Lure Of The Sirens
by reddwarfaddict
Summary: Jack's managed to get the TARDIS team lost on the endless waters of Cha'po in the middle of a horrendous storm, but there's a much greater danger on the horizon – the Sirens are singing, and the men just can't resist to follow, even if it means death... DoctorWhump
1. Holidays From Hell

**A/N:** Disclaimer: I would rather own David Tennant :D

Another broken computer. Technology hates me.

I currently have no beta and I don't have the foggiest clue about ships so any inaccuracies are all my fault.

Canon is A/U series 2 with Jack.

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Chapter 1 – Holidays From Hell

"Aww, he's asleep!" Rose said happily as she watched the Doctor lying curled in on himself on the sunbed, eyes closed, fast asleep.

Jack smiled with utter glee. "Can we draw a moustache on him?"he asked, already reaching for his marker pen.

"No!" Rose replied, laughing. "I bet he's still knackered from Zerus. I think those things chased him for three hours."

The Doctor suddenly squeaked in his sleep, turning over and lying spread-eagled on the sun-bed, his hand dropping off of the bed and hitting the floor before he settled down again. Rose carefully reached forward and lifted his hand to rest on his chest without saying a word.

"What's the time?" Rose suddenly asked, turning to Jack.

He checked his manipulator. "Almost 4pm. Better start heading to land."

She nodded as he got up and headed towards the ship's bridge. The whole holiday thing had been her idea – they had needed it, frankly. Running from aliens was fun but she had her limit, and even though the Doctor had seemed a little disconcerted at the idea to begin with he had eventually agreed and suggested a boat cruise, just the three of them, on the beautiful island of Cha'po on the planet Kaila. And he'd been right – it was beautiful... and so relaxing even _he_ had managed to fall asleep lounging on the deck with the twin Suns beaming down on them all.

The landscape with beautiful, grass of a rainbow of colours thick and healthy on the distant cliffs and hills. The sky was a perfect blue like Earth on a beautiful day. The landscape was completely natural and unblemished by lifeform intervention, even the sea was a beautiful mix of blues all coming together in a spectrum of natural beauty.

Rose knew she'd have to wake up the Doctor soon, but frankly he looked so relaxed and cute that she just couldn't bear too. She so rarely got the chance to watch him sleep that it was a bit of a shock to the system when she'd first found him drooling on the sun-bed, the one she'd actually been occupying minutes before she went to get a drink.

"Umm, Rose?" suddenly came a voice from the bridge and she looked to find Jack poking his head out, looking slightly nervous.

"What?"

"Umm... Small question. Do you... remember which direction we came from?"

Rose stared at him, her eyes suddenly wide. "Are we lost?"

"No!" Jack answered instantly, confidently. "We're just... in need of a map."

Rose got up and crossed to the bridge, looking around at the controls without the foggiest what any of them did. Without really thinking she pressed a button on the panel, and suddenly a deafening horn rang out in a ear-piercing scream around the ship.

"Aggh!" three people yelled in shock, the one who was not on the bridge shooting up off of the sun-bed and panting for breath, his fists raised... until he realised there was nothing trying to kill him. He noticed the two people on the bridge and quickly got up and poked his head in the doorway.

"What's going on?" he asked. Both of them turned towards the Doctor, both trying to look as innocent as possible.

"Have a nice nap?" Rose asked, smiling.

"Yes, what's going on?" he repeated, eyebrow raising.

"Jack got us lost," Rose replied simply and quickly, subtly moving to stand on the Doctor's side.

"What?" Jack was totally flabbergasted. "I didn't..."

The Doctor cut in with a sigh. "Which direction did we come from?" he asked, moving over to the controls of the boat. There was total silence.

"Don't tell me you don't know," the Doctor said, eyes wide.

"Well you were the designated driver," Jack countered with a shrug.

The Doctor groaned, running his hand through his hair. "I can't even nap with you two! Okay. We're heading north at the moment. Let's turn this boat around and head back south. I know we did a few turns but if we keep going we should hit dry land."

* * *

"We're lost, aren't we?" Rose asked for the nineteenth time as the three of them sat in a circle on the deck of the boat playing a game of cards. It was 9pm and they still hadn't found a hint of dry land.

The Doctor pulled a grin of positivity. "So we spend a night out on the water. It'll be fun! The night sky is beautiful. Just look at it."

All three looked up at the sky. It was covered with black clouds, progressively getting closer to them...

"See?" the Doctor said brightly. "Beautiful."

"Aren't those storm clouds?" Jack asked.

"Not at all," the Doctor continued, still beaming from ear-to-ear. "They're beautiful, dark clouds."

"They're storm clouds, aren't they," Jack stated more than asked.

The Doctor pulled a face. "Umm... yeah."

"So lemme get this straight," Rose began, looking slightly panicked. "We're in the middle of the sea on a flimsy boat completely lost without a hint of dry land anywhere and a massive storm is about to hit us which will probably rip the boat apart?"

The Doctor pulled a face. "A very good summary. Well done, Rose!"

"Well done?" she shrieked, sounding a little bit like her Mother.

The Doctor shrank back in fear. "If you want someone to blame, blame Captain Jack Sparrow over there." He pointed at the ex-Time Agent, who was a little more than surprised to get dragged into this.

"It's not _my_ fault!" Jack protested. "'Oh let's go on holiday!' Rose said! 'It'll be fun and we can bond!' I don't see any bonding going on!"

"There will be bondin' when I smash your face into the deck!" Rose shrieked, making a lunge for Jack who dodged.

"Rose! Jack!" the Doctor began in protest with his arms raised to try and get a sense of calm, but only succeeded in turning Rose's anger onto him.

"And you!" Rose screamed, jabbing her finger at him. "You're the one that said this place would be great!"

"I'm not the one who got us lost!" the Doctor squeaked in protest.

"Are you saying _I_ did?" Rose screamed.

"Careful, Doctor!" Jack stage-whispered. "I think she's on her period!"

"What did you say?" Rose turned back on him. "WHAT DID YOU SAY?"

"No wonder she locks herself in her room five days a month," the Doctor muttered under his breath. "Okay, Rose, Jack, _calm down!" _he yelled, getting onto his feet. "I think we're all flying off the rails with a little cabin fever, here. The first thing is, we need to calm down and _try_ and remember that we're all friends. Second thing is, this boat is pretty strong. We'll be fine in the cabin and we can ride it out until morning _if_, and this is my third point, _if_ the storm actually hits us. It's not raining, it might pass over us..."

And as if on cue, the heavens opened and drenched him where he stood. The ship rocked wildly from side to side, and suddenly Rose turned very green.

"I don't feel well," she murmured, and then ran to the side of the boat where she threw up, very loudly, into the sea below.

The Doctor sighed. "I'll try the radio again," he said, and disappeared back to the bridge.


	2. Crackajack

Chapter 2 – Crackajack

"You okay?" Jack asked Rose a few minutes later, who was still standing at the boat's railing with her head hanging over the side, looking very green indeed.

"Not really," she muttered, and then threw up again. Jack winced and wrapped his arm around her shoulders in comfort.

"The storm'll pass us," he tried to reassure her, though he didn't really believe it, and neither did she. But they exchanged smiles and nodded like it was true, before Rose threw up for the seventh time.

Jack sighed and turned to look out across the endless stretch of ocean in all directions of their tiny little rented boat. He couldn't see any land at all. Though it _was_ getting a little dark now.

Then he heard it.

It was music, playing out across the sea. Music like he'd never heard before; a lute, a flute and a beautiful voice combining into some kind of new and amazingly beautiful sound.

"Can you hear that?" he asked Rose, frowning.

Rose looked up for a moment, listening. She nodded. "Yeah... Wow, that's pretty."

"Still getting no reply," the Doctor suddenly interrupted, stepping out onto the deck. "I think the storm's messing with the frequencies. I tried localising it with the sonic but I'm not getting any results..." he trailed off as he realised neither Rose nor Jack were actually listening to him; they seemed to be straining to hear something else. "What's happening?"

"Beautiful song," Jack said quietly.

The Doctor listened, and yes, he could hear a beautiful piece of music emanating from across the ocean. Shrugging it off, he moved over to Rose and smiled gently at her, pulling out his sonic and pressing it behind her ear, giving her a quick buzz. "This should sort out your motion sickness," he said as he slipped the device back into his pocket. "At least temporarily anyway."

Rose opened her mouth to thank him, but Jack got in first, still entirely focused on the music.

"Where's it coming from?" he asked. His voice was light and soft.

"Over there, I think," the Doctor said, pointing in a direction into the blackness of the unknown night.

"We have to follow it," Jack said, straightening. "We've gotta find where it's coming from."

The Doctor regarded him for a moment, hands in his pockets. "No," he replied straight.

"W-what?" Jack stammered, turning to the Doctor in a sense of shock. "Why not?"

"Just no," the Doctor replied firmly, and with that, he turned and slipped back into the bridge. Rose looked at Jack. He seemed as though he was about to cry...

She followed the Doctor, slightly confused to say the least. She found him reattempting to radio for help, somehow more determined than ever.

"What's the big deal?" she asked, moving to stand next to him. "Why can't we follow the music?"

"Because we're not," he replied abruptly. "And that's final."

"But if there's music doesn't that mean people?" she wondered. "Which means land?"

"Not necessarily," he replied quietly, soniking the controls.

"But it's worth a look, yeah?"

"Rose," the Doctor began, turning to look at her with a grim look on his face. "Did you see how Jack was acting? That wasn't him at all. It seems to be some sort of hypnotic control that's targeting Jack. I don't know what the music is or where it's coming from, but whatever it is, I'm very sure it's bad news."

Rose paused to consider this. He was right... Jack had been acting a little strange since he first mentioned hearing the music...

Jack suddenly burst into the room, looking agitated and impatient, hopping from foot to foot. "We need to follow the music!" he almost yelled at them both. "It's so beautiful!"

"Jack," the Doctor rounded on him, looking very severe indeed. "We're not following it."

"But we have to!" Jack yelled, clenching his fists.

"Jack, something's got you under hypnotic influence," the Doctor said slowly and clearly, moving forward to set one hand on each of Jack's shoulders. "I can help you fight its influence if you let me into your mind..."

He began to reach up to Jack's temples, but Jack roughly shoved him away, a kind of determination in his eyes that Rose had never seen before...

"If you won't take us there, I will!" he shouted, running to the controls and starting to operate it, his hands a blur.

"Jack, we can't follow it!" she yelped, trying desperately to pull him off of the controls, but Jack was a lot stronger than she was. He threw her off with one swift movement of his shoulders and Rose went crashing to the floor with a yelp of surprise and pain.

"Rose!" the Doctor yelled, dropping down next to her and checking she was okay before turning his attentions to Jack. "Jack, stop it! This is insane! You're being influenced!"

Jack didn't reply. The ship was flying across the unstable sea now, throwing all of them from side-to-side violently, it could flip at any moment...

The Doctor managed to find his balance, checking Rose had something to hold onto before he launched at Jack, wrapping his arms around his chest to prevent him from moving. Jack shrieked an inhuman shriek, thrashing around until the Doctor went flying back to the floor.

"And stay down!" he yelled, and to Rose's utter horror Jack reached into his holster, drew out his gun and fired a potshot behind him at the Doctor in the space of two seconds.

The Doctor yelled in pain as Rose screamed, but Jack couldn't hear his friends. His mind was a blur. He had to get to the sound, no matter what...

Then something connected with his head, and everything stopped dead in a world of blackness. He fell the the floor out cold with Rose standing above him, holding the metal-encased radio.

"Sorry, Jack," she muttered, dropping the now destroyed device to the floor before running over to the Doctor, scooping him up in her arms. "Doctor? Are you okay?"

He grunted in her arms, moaning softly as he gestured at his leg. Rose looked down, and quickly wished she hadn't. His upper right thigh was covered in blood, running down his leg to rapidly form a puddle of crimson on the floor.

"Jack," he grunted, pulling out of her arms and regarding Jack's unconscious form. Though he wouldn't be unconscious for long – he was stirring, and the music was still playing from a distance. The Doctor scrambled as quickly as he dared over to the ex-Time Agent, pressing his fingers to his temples and closing his eyes. A few moments later he pulled away and Jack fell into a deep sleep. The Doctor moved back, holding his leg and gritting his teeth. "Get him into the cabin. Lock it."

* * *

"He's gone mental," was the first thing Rose said five minutes later as the Doctor laid on the floor of the bridge, the boat still rocking in the storm with torrential rain pouring down on the roof – but at least they weren't moving as fast as they were five minutes previously when Jack had been in control.

"You think?" the Doctor replied sarcastically, trying to get the bullet out of his leg but wasn't managing it very well on his own.

"Let me do it," Rose said gently, taking the scissors out of his hand and cutting through his trouser leg where the blood was the worst. Thankfully there had been a First Aid box in the cabin, and although it only really had a couple of plasters, a pair of scissors and some antiseptic wipes in it, it was better than nothing. "Talk me through it."

"Clean the wound," he said, struggling to sit up. "Gently, please," he added on the end quickly.

She nodded, dabbing at the wound with a wipe as firmly as she dared. "Will he go back to normal if the song stops?"

"Dunno," the Doctor murmured truthfully. "I think so. He was fine before it began, and it began when it got dark. So I think we've just got to stick with it until dawn breaks."

"Have you ever met anythin' like this before?"

"Some things a bit similar," he admitted. "But this strikes me as something that's only been written about on Earth."

"Really?" Rose asked, surprised. "What? Now I get out the bullet, yeah?"

"Yeah. Sirens," he replied, trying not to notice her digging in his thigh, but all the same, wincing badly as she worked. "Greek Mythology. Nothing's too concrete, but the most common story is that the Sirens were three sea nymphs who lived on an island in the middle of the sea, playing beautiful music that lured unknowing sailors to the Sirens' island and to their deaths."

"So we're caught in the middle of a myth?" She got the bullet out, and began to work on bandaging the wound up.

He shrugged. "Like you say, it's just a myth. But that doesn't mean it didn't stem from somewhere. Something real from this planet itself that's somehow echoed across the Universe and straight into Earth's history. At the moment it's only affecting Jack but this could spread to us, which is why we need to keep Jack in the cabin and get out of here as quick as we can."

She finished bandaging and sat back to admire her work. "There."

"I've taught you well," he said with a grin, letting out a slight sigh of relief as the endorphins were finally allowed to rush out and numb the pain.

_CRASH!_

The ship suddenly jerked and Rose yelped, grabbing onto the Doctor.

"What's happenin'?"

"He's broken out through the side of the ship!" the Doctor realised, his eyes wide. He scrambled to his feet using Rose as leverage, limping to the door and throwing it open, moving to the side of the ship and leaning over the side. He could just make out the small figure of Jack swimming away from them in the direction of the song.

"JACK!" Rose yelled, but they both knew it would do no good. The Doctor leant further over the side of the railing as the boat swayed, checking the damage in the side.

"We're taking on water through the cabin," he realised. "The hole's too big to plug, we're going down! Rose, grab everything you can and jump ship!"

Rose disappeared into the bridge. The Doctor went for the lifeboats and pulled out the only one – only to discover there was a massive tear in the bottom.

"Oh I hate holidays," he muttered, throwing the useless lifeboat overboard. Rose emerged from the bridge carrying a backpack, struggling to sling it over her back. "Lifeboat's useless!" the Doctor yelled at her over the rain pouring down on them, seemingly getting increasingly more and more heavy. "We're gonna have to swim!"

Before Rose could utter a word he moved over to her, taking her hand and pulling her to the railing of the badly leaning ship. They looked at each other for a moment, as if placing their trust in one another, before they jumped, plunging into the cold water with a splash.

They surfaced, the Doctor checking Rose was okay before they both turned back to look at the quickly sinking ship, almost completely gone, now.

"There goes that deposit," Rose murmured.

"We've got to find Jack," the Doctor said, beckoning her before he began to swim across the ocean in the direction Jack had disappeared.

For a moment Rose continued to stare at the ship, catching a last glimpse before the entire boat was submerged in the salty waters. Then she turned, and began to swim after the Doctor.


	3. HighSpeed Hot Water Bottle

**A/N: **I'm as freeeeeeeeeeee as a birrrrrd noooow!

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Chapter 3 - High-speed Hot Water Bottle

They had been swimming across the seemingly endless stretch of water for at least twenty minutes, with no sign of land. Rose was exhausted and had to stop, clinging onto the Doctor to try and recover her lost stamina. She knew he was swimming slower than he could for her benefit, but she was still struggling to keep up. She was tired and wet and hungry and cold and really, dearly wanted a nice hot bath and her comfy bed in the TARDIS.

The Doctor looked down at her, his deep brown eyes scanning her over. "You okay to go on?"

She swallowed, trying desperately not to cry. "I can't, I'm so tired and cold..." she murmured, looking up at him. Torrential rain was still pouring down onto them, they were both soaked in every conceivable part of their body and his hair was plastered to his head. "How's your leg?" she asked.

He grinned. "Stings a bit, but salt water's great for wounds. Doesn't mean I'm not going to kill Jack, though."

She replied with a smile, but it was weak. He stared at her for a moment, before turning and gesturing her to get on his back.

"Hold onto my back," he said. "I'll swim us there." She stared at him for a moment, making to reply something but he cut in before her. "Trust me, it's physically possible. I'm a lot stronger and more agile than you, I've got a good hour of swimming in me, yet."

She still seemed a little hesitant, but after a moment she conceded and wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his stomach, clinging on tightly.

"Hold on tight, don't let go," he said, and began to swim. Rose was astounded at the speed he pulled away, getting faster and faster as he sped across the water.

"You're like a little speedboat!" she shrieked in delight, enjoying the ride. He sped through the water like a zip being pulled so smoothly Rose felt she could probably take a nice nap right there.

Ten minutes passed. Rose was getting increasingly more and more cold now she wasn't swimming, but the Doctor was serving as a perfectly adequate high-speed hot water bottle. She looked up at the horizon for the fiftieth time that night, and to her utter delight for the first time she could see something that looked very much like land rising and growing in the distance as they got closer and closer...

She tapped the Doctor on the shoulder and he began to slow down before finally coming to a halt in the middle of the sea. She pointed in the direction of land, and he grinned a very wide grin indeed.

"Finally!" he exclaimed. "Not to get you nervous or anything, but I was getting pretty worried back there."

"Reassurin'," Rose murmured, rest her head back on his neck again to get his warmth. He noticed this, directing his warmth directly to his back and neck. Rose suddenly sighed contentedly and wrapped herself even more around him.

"Better?" he asked, laughing.

Rose laughed and kick him lightly in the side. "Giddy up."

"Neigh," the Doctor replied, leaning forward to make to start swimming again... when something in the waters suddenly caught his attention. He stopped and frowned, squinting to see...

"Oh my God," Rose whispered from over his shoulder, obviously having seen it too. "Is that a shark?"

"Actually, it's a Kailan Leviathan," the Doctor corrected. "But... yeah. A shark. Only twice as fast, three times as big and jaws that can easily snap a metal girder in two..."

"Thanks for that," Rose whispered, absolutely terrified.

"We've gone too far away from calm waters..." the Doctor continued, his voice barely above a whisper. "We're in the Death Zone."

The both of them fell absolutely silent.

The Doctor dug into his jacket, pulling out his sonic, adjusting the frequency and holding it over his shoulder to her. She took it with practically numb fingertips. "Buzz them if they come near."

"Them?" Rose gasped, looking frantically around.

"They hunt in packs of up to twenty," the Doctor replied quietly. "Keep buzzing them back and I'll swim us as fast as I can to the land. Use it sparingly, because eventually they'll get attuned to the frequency and ignore it."

"Okay," Rose replied as confidently as she could, swallowing back her fear.

"Allons-y," the Doctor muttered, and began to swim. Rose watched in trepidation as the razor sharp fin of the Leviathan turned on the spot and pointed straight towards her and the Doctor.

The Doctor was gaining speed now, going even faster than he had before, but the Leviathan was quite calmly keeping up, as if waiting for the opportune moment to pounce. Her hand was so cold she could barely keep a grip on the sonic screwdriver, and she risked letting go of the Doctor's neck to secure her hold of the sonic in both hands.

It pounced.

Rose jammed her finger on the button and the sonic burst into a bright blue at the tip, the familiar humming sound giving them a few precious seconds of life when the Leviathan suddenly stopped dead in the water, and the Doctor pulled away. After thirty seconds of silence Rose wondered for a moment if they were gone... but then she saw another sharp fin cutting up through the water to her right. Then another on the left. And another. And another. And another...

Five of the Leviathans were now calmly moving along behind them, their fins cutting with ease through the water like a knife through butter. Then they began to move. Rose made to press down on the button but she suddenly realised they weren't going for her. They were were moving in a distinct circle around the humanoids, getting faster, and faster, and faster.

And faster.

She didn't know where to look. She knew that at any moment they could all pounce in sync together... and she and the Doctor wouldn't stand a chance...

She did a sweeping pan with the sonic in a circle. All of the Leviathan's quickly backed off, leaving the Doctor to get away again, increasing his speed even more. They were so close to the island now... just a little longer...

The Leviathans were back again. All five of them, swimming through the water calmly, just behind her and the Doctor. Two moved, one on each side. She waited, bracing herself...

One on the side pounced.

She hit the button and the blast of blue began... but it didn't have any affect. Rose let out a scream as the Leviathan rose up out of the water – massive fangs bared, its eyes completely black – and went for a bite in the Doctor's side.

The Doctor seemed to bodily jerk below her, but kept on swimming. Blood immediately erupted from his side and began to gush out into the sea water, leaving a trail of red in the sea behind him. He was slowing down, his entire body shaking beneath her as the Leviathans instantly moved to the blood pouring into the sea, following it like a Red Brick Road...

The land was _so _close now, she could see the trees on the edge of the beach, the rocks in the sand...

She turned back to look at the Leviathans, once again moving into a circle around them...

This was it.

They weren't going to get there.

They were going to be ripped apart and devoured.

But then she noticed something tall and dark coming at them from behind. It took a moment before she realised the big black thing was actually a tidal wave – heading straight towards them.

"Doctor!" she screamed, grabbing him around the neck again. "Tidal wave!"

It crashed down onto them, and less than a minute later, they were both unconscious.

* * *

The Doctor groaned, lifting his head up slowly and opening his eyes, a little scared of what he would see. It was still dark, still raining, but he was lying haphazardly on a beach with a severe pain coursing through his side and his leg stinging badly.

He knew he needed to get up, but he couldn't. He was freezing cold and bleeding quite copiously, his body aching and his muscles weak... But he needed to find Rose.

He turned his head on the sand, looking across the stretch of sand for any hint of her. His breath caught in his throat when he caught sight of a body lying slumped across the sand a few metres from him, shivering quite badly.

He swallowed, taking a breath before he began to pull himself across the sand to her, one hand clutching his side as the other dragged his entire body. It was like pulling himself through tar. He cried and groaned with every inch by agonising inch – but he had to get to Rose.

He finally reached her, collapsing and panting beside her still form. He forced an arm out, struggling to coordinate it, resting his fingers to her neck's pulse point. She was still alive... but very, very cold. If he didn't do something she would get hypothermia.

He took another breath, dragging himself up before managing to lay himself on her body, directing his energy to his chest so she would feel his warmth more directly. It didn't matter if he died – Rose was going to be okay.

Then he couldn't handle the pain anymore.

He closed his eyes, giving in to the blackness.

* * *

**A/N: **And this bird you can not chaaaaaange! Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh!

I'll review reply this chapter. I swear! Swear! On both my hearts.


	4. How To Lose Your Trousers

**A/N:** Did I reply to everyone? I hope I did! I think I did! If I didn't, punch me! :o

* * *

Chapter 4 – How To Lose Your Trousers

When Rose woke up, she felt extremely warm and comfortable. Then she realised there was something lying on top of her, and she opened her eyes to come face-to-face with the Doctor, sand covering half his face with his hair dripping beads of water onto the sand below.

"Doctor?" she asked, but got no reply. Suddenly nervous, she reached up and checked for his pulse. He was still going. Just about.

It was still dark but at least the rain had stopped. As carefully as she could she got up from beneath the Doctor, only to find she was covered in blood. But it wasn't her's.

Alarmed as the memories of the attack came back, she knelt down beside the Doctor and peeled back his jacket as carefully as she could. His side was caked in blood. She pulled back his shirt, but couldn't exactly pinpoint where the blood had come from – but at least it had stopped.

She needed to get him to cover. There was a forest behind them that seemed vaguely inviting, but there was no way she could carry him.

"Doctor?" she tried again, shaking him slightly. To her complete surprise he suddenly groaned, but didn't open his eyes. She tried again. "Doctor, you need to get up."

He groaned again. He wasn't about to get up. She'd have to take this into her own hands.

"Come on, Doctor," she said, slipping her arm under his chest and lifting him, coaxing him into standing up. He grunted and gasped in pain, every sound breaking her heart before he was finally stood vaguely upright, leaning heavily on her whilst gasping for air.

She adjusted him on her shoulder, glancing sideward at his face. His eyes were still closed, his face screwed up in agony, panting badly.

"Rose," he rasped, still not looking at her. "Re... regen... gener..."

"Don't you dare die," she warned him seriously. "I'm savin' your life whether you like it or not. C'mon."

She began to pull him across the sand and into the forest.

* * *

She managed to find a clear area in amongst the dense forestry fairly close to the beach, finding a long rock where she could deposit the Doctor. He was still vaguely awake, muttering incoherently as she gently laid him down, surprised to find it actually wasn't as cold as she thought it would be when she took off her hoody covered him over. Now to work.

She found the Doctor's sonic in her pocket, thanking heaven for small mercies before she began to hunt for firewood.

She eventually manage to get a fire going with the wood she'd found and the Doctor's sonic, and also created a clothesline out of vines, tying it between two trees. She knew she needed to dry their clothes, and to do that, she and the Doctor were going to have to be at one with nature. She moved over to the Time Lord, holding him in her arms and slowly lifting him to sitting position, desperately trying to ignore his half-hearted squeaks of pain with every tiny movement she inflicted on him.

She eventually managed to pull off his jacket, and began to work on his shirt. He gasped and groaned and grunted as she peeled it back once again from his blood-caked wound, and finally managed to remove the shirt completely to leave him lying half-naked and his side covered in blood.

She next took off his shoes and socks before taking a breath and proceeding to remove his trousers. The Doctor suddenly moved, trying to lift his arms to prevent her but she stopped him easily.

"Look, don't think I'm not findin' this awkward but this seriously isn't the time for modesty, yeah?" she said sternly and he gave up, head lolling on the rock as he breathed heavily. She pulled them off to leave him lying in his boxers in the middle of the forest, the bandages she had wrapped around his thigh earlier still firmly in place. "You're forgettin' who had to redress you like you were a Ken doll at Christmas."

She hung his clothes over her clothesline before she turned her attentions to the Doctor's wound itself. Moving quickly between the sea and the Doctor, she cleaned his wound with sea water in a shred of her shirt until she could see deep holes in the shape of a row of teeth cutting into his flesh in the front of his stomach and his back.

There was really nothing she could do, she didn't have anything even remotely medical, so she used her now remotely dry hoody to cover his wound and his tie to hold it in place.

Now for the _really_ hard part. She lowered herself to lie on top of him, knowing the only way to get through this night alive was to share body heat with him, however awkward it was lying in her underwear on top of him with some definite skin-to-skin contact.

"Rose?" he suddenly said quietly, still not having opened his eyes.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"Good... job."

"Mum got obsessed with Bear Grylls," she replied with a smile. And for a brief moment... just a second... she swore he smiled too.

* * *

The Doctor woke up to find it was morning and Rose was no longer sprawled out on top of him. He was instead covered with a towel... Rose's beach towel, to be precise. He turned his head on the rock, looking out across the clearing to see a fully-clothed Rose rummaging through her bag.

She suddenly looked up to find him staring at her, and she grinned. "Mornin'!"

He offered a wan smile, going to sit up but suddenly shrieking in pain and falling back down again, panting heavily and holding his side. Rose ran over to him immediately, supporting him until he recovered and managed to sit up.

He looked at her, slightly guilty. "Forgot about that," he said sheepishly.

Rose smiled as best she could. "Are you okay to walk?"

"Think so." He used Rose to get to his feet, gasping and wincing all the way. He finally managed to stand vaguely upright, leaning heavily on her still in just his boxers, panting.

"Okay?" Rose asked.

He took a moment to control his breathing , his eyes tightly closed. "Endorphins should kick in soon." A few moment passed before he nodded, opening his eyes again. "Better," he said, and began to move again, still wincing though not as half as bad as before.

Rose helped him take a seat next to the dead remains of the long since burnt out fire. "No sign of Jack?" he wondered.

"No," Rose replied, sitting down next to him and hunting though her backpack again until she found a lunchbox. The Doctor stared at it. Rose caught his look, and grinned. "Want some?"

"What you got?"

"Well I don't have a banana anymore," she began, pulling out a water-drowned rotting banana and tossing it over her shoulder.

The Doctor stared at it for a moment, a little sad. "Such a waste."

"I've got some... ham sandwiches!" she announced first, pulling out a sealed freezer bag containing some edible-looking sandwiches and giving them to him. "I think they survived. Plus I got... A muffin!" A triple chocolate muffin sealed in a plastic packet came next. "Three Capri-Suns, two bags of Prawn Cocktail crisps, five Boost bars and a strawberry yoghurt with no spoon."

The Doctor stared at the pile of food and drink in front of him in total bemusement. "Were you planning on finding a starving family and feeding them?" he asked seriously.

"No, I was plannin' on feeding you and Jack," she replied simply, sticking her tongue out at him. "We need to conserve, yeah? I think everythin' except the yoghurt and sandwiches will last a while."

"Halfsies on them and a Capri-Sun?" he suggested.

She grinned and nodded, opening the sandwiches and placing the pack between them.

"So what else you got in there?" he wondered, peering into her bag as he munched on a ham sandwich.

"Oh you know," she shrugged, nonchalant. "The usual. Picnic, towel, iPod, Phone..." She suddenly trailed off, eyes widening as she realised what she'd said. "My iPod and phone!" she yelped, practically throwing herself inside the bag and rummaging frantically until she found the offending items and tested them. Her face fell.

"They're broken," she said flatly, looking as though she were about to burst into tears.

"The electronics are just a bit watery," the Doctor said casually, still munching on his ham sandwich like a rabbit munching on a carrot. "Buzz them with the sonic."

A ray of hope shone in Rose's eyes at his words, and she quickly withdrew the sonic from her jacket and buzzed both items, before turning them on. She let go a huge sigh of relief, as though she'd just narrowly escaped death. Then a thought struck her. "Can we use this to call for help?" she wondered, holding up her now working phone.

"Not yet," the Doctor replied, pulling a face. "As much as I hate him right now, we need to find Jack first."

She nodded, putting it back down onto the floor before tucking into their meal.

* * *

After they finished off their impromptu picnic, Rose helped the Doctor to her homespun clothesline so he could finally get dressed. He seemed a lot cheerier once he had managed to get on his shirt, handing Rose back her hoody that was still tied around his waist. The teeth marks were still clear for all to see, surrounded by bruises and lesions. The Doctor assured Rose that his body was perfectly capable of healing them on its own, now.

He was just reaching for his trousers when suddenly some twigs cracked in the trees behind the clothesline. He stopped, peering over to the seemingly endless forest beyond, but he couldn't see anything.

"Jack?" he called.

Pause.

Suddenly a massive creature launched out of the trees, and ran straight towards him at an impossible speed. He only just about had enough time to warn Rose and dive out of the way before what looked like a black bear tore through the clothesline and landed where Rose had been sat two seconds ago. It turned its great head towards the Doctor, black eyes gazing into his... its teeth bared...

"Run!" Rose screamed at him, grabbing his arm and wrenching him up off the floor.

"Ow!" the Doctor yelled indignantly, stumbling after her, clutching at his side. They both ran as fast as they could, which wasn't very fast at all as the Doctor was leaning heavily on Rose, panting and gasping and in pain from not only his leg and his side, but also the fact he was running through woodland with no shoes or socks on.

They finally emerged onto the beach they had washed up on, the Doctor quickly collapsing down onto his back on the sand and groaning.

"I don't think it chased us," Rose breathed, checking the woodland. "That was a big bear."

"It wasn't a bear," the Doctor muttered, staring up at the sky. "It was a Wildwood Widowmaker."

"You okay?"

He stared at her as though she'd just dribbled on her shirt. "I have a bullet wound in my leg, a chunk nearly taken out of my side, thorns and splinters in my feet, I've just lost my trousers, we're stuck on some undescript island in the middle of nowhere with some crisps and some Boost bars, we can't find Jack, you've just lost your phone and I've just lost the rest of my dignity."

"I've lost my phone?" Rose asked, confused. "But it's right..."

Then she remembered putting it down. And leaving it. And the bear jumping onto it.

"I _hate _holidays," the Doctor finished bluntly. After a moment he let go of a sigh, pushing himself onto his elbows and gradually managing to get to his feet.

"Stay here," he instructed her seriously. "Don't move. I'll be back in a bit."

"Where are you goin'?" she asked, but he was already gone.

* * *

**A/N: **Whatever TenRose you see in this is purely your own perspective. It's standard medical procedure to prevent hypothermia. I am entirely innocent.


	5. Jack's Death For This Story

**A/N: **Some things probably won't make sense in this chapter.

* * *

Chapter 5 – Jack's Death For This Story

When the Doctor returned an hour later, he found, surprisingly, Rose had actually stayed put. She was lying back on a beach towel with a pair of sunglasses on and a bottle of suncream lying next to her. Evidently _she _was having a great holiday.

"Having fun?" he called. He didn't get an answer. He reached her, taking a little time to stoop to her level before waving his hand in front of her sunglass-covered eyes. "Rose?"

He pulled off the sunglasses to reveal she was in fact asleep. Suddenly an insane sense of guilt washed over him. She must've been so busy looking after _him _last night that she hadn't had hardly any time to sleep herself.

Deciding not to wake her, he replaced her sunglasses as carefully as he could and laid down on the towel next to her, hands behind his head.

Suddenly Rose moaned and turned over towards him, wrapping her arm around his neck, her head on his chest and placing her leg over his groin. His eyes widened, looking down at her – but she was still asleep.

He considered moving her, but then decided against it. She was tired and needed to sleep. So he moved his right arm to wrap around her shoulders, holding her close as he stared up at the perfect blue sky, absorbed in his own thoughts.

* * *

It was mid-afternoon when Rose woke up, fully refreshed and also slightly tanned. The Doctor showed her what he had left her for – and to her utter surprise she found that he had crafted a pair of wooden flip-flops from a fallen tree with great success, no longer leaving him without any shoes. She and the Doctor took a walk hand-in-hand down the beach, basking in the glorious twin suns on the very beautiful but otherwise very lonely island. They had met absolutely no one, the only life on the island seemingly being alien bears, alien insects, alien birds and some very angry alien sharks a little further out in the water. It was quite relaxing in a way, but they both knew they were _very_ far away from actually being safe.

"What's that?" Rose suddenly said, pointing across the beach to something dark and long lying on the sand.

The Doctor squinted. "Stay back," he ordered her, making forward.

"Yeah right," Rose scoffed, breaking into a run and leaving him behind to catch up. She reached the dark figure and quickly realised...

"Jack!" she fell to her knees next to him, shaking him. There was no reaction, so she reached up to pull him onto his back... And screamed.

He was covered in blood, seemed to be missing his right arm and his entire body smashed in as though he'd been hit by a wrecking ball. His eyes were wide open, staring up at her with sightless eyes, quite obviously very, _very_ dead.

Rose sprang back instantly, staring at Jack's body in absolute horror. The Doctor quickly moved towards her, placing himself directly in front of the dead body so she couldn't see it, but she was still staring right through him, gasping for air...

"Rose look at me," the Doctor said firmly, cupping her face and gazing straight into her eyes. She was about to go catatonic... "Look at me. Look at me!"

She wasn't refocusing – only staring at Jack's dead body. There was only one thing he could do.

"Rose, I'm going to send you to sleep, okay?" he said, somehow hoping that somewhere in there she could hear him loud and clear. He reached up to her head, closing his eyes... and she sagged in his grip. He caught her, placing her on the sand gently. Rose was strong, but there was nothing in the Universe could have prepared her for this. He took a deep breath and turned back towards Jack.

He'd been mauled by the Leviathans, that much was clear.

The Doctor could've prevented this. Jack was dead. If he hadn't suggested here... If he hadn't fallen asleep... If he hadn't...

Then he realised the arm he was sure Jack had previously been missing had reappeared... without a scratch on it. His brow furrowed, looking up at Jack's face. It was completely clean, free of the bruises and scratches that had been there before...

Suddenly Jack jerked up, gasping for air and grabbing the Doctor's arm. The Doctor reeled in surprise.

"What?" the previously dead man murmured, his eyes finally focusing on the man in front of him. "Doctor? What... What happened?"

"What _did _happen to you?" the Doctor asked softly, not being able to make any sense of this.

"It hurt..." Jack croaked in confusion, far from his usual collected self. "Pain... everywhere..."

"Jack... You were dead," the Doctor said slowly, not quite believing what he was actually saying. "You came back to life."

Jack finally let go of the Doctor's arm, staring at him in disbelief. "I what? How?"

"I don't know..." The Doctor was looking very pale indeed. "This isn't right."

"Of course it's not right!" Jack replied, a little rudely as he struggled to his feet, finding not a hint of pain that afflicted him at all. "What does this mean?"

"I don't know," the Doctor repeated quietly. Jack ignored him, looking left to find Rose lying unmoving on the sand.

"What happened to Rose?" Jack asked anxiously, falling to his knees beside the girl and quickly checking her pulse.

"She's fine," the Doctor said, his eyes transfixed by Jack. "She'll wake up in a few minutes."

"You did this?" Jack asked, bewildered.

"You were dead," the Doctor croaked.

Jack ignored him again, turning to Rose. "Rose, wake up. I'm here."

Slowly but surely the woman awoke, confused and disorientated. She looked up at Jack, and instantly became even more confused. "Jack? But..."

"I'm okay," he said gently. "You can relax."

"But... how?" she croaked, sitting up with his support before looking over at the Doctor. "What did you do?" Then she noticed how pale he was, his eyes fixed on Jack. "Doctor? Are you okay?"

He didn't reply, his teeth gritted, his fists clenched. He looked... angry.

"You were _dead, _Jack!" the Doctor suddenly yelled, completely out of the blue. "Your arm was gone! Your chest was smashed in! You were dead! And not you're not! You're not! I can't... This isn't..."

He turned, and ran straight into the forest, clutching at his side.

Jack blinked in surprise. "Doctor? What? Come back!"

In seconds both he and Rose were on their feet, running after the Doctor as fast as they could into the forest.

* * *

The Doctor's head was in a whirl. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't see, he couldn't think... He just knew he had to run. People were yelling after him as he stumbled over fallen trees and branches and bushes scattered all over the forest floor, his side feeling as though sharp knives were being dug in, and a huge burning pain in his thigh... But he had to keep running. That... That _thing_ was going to get him... It was going to _kill _him...

"Doctor! Stop!" someone yelled, and suddenly he felt a hand grab his arm. He pulled away and kept on running, trying desperately to lose it... But suddenly something caught his right foot and he went crashing to the floor, his entire body screaming in protest, his thigh feeling as though it were engulfed in flames. He flipped over and quickly realised his leg was snagged in-between the branches of a fallen tree, and the voices were closer...

"Doctor!" It was Jack... the _Thing... _and he was standing on the other side of the tree, gazing down at him...

He tried desperately to wrench his leg free but could only howl in agony as his already injured leg shot through with yet more pain. His eyes were wide, staring up at the figure standing above him...

There was no escape. He curled up into a ball, covered his face and closed his eyes, waiting for his last breath.

"Doctor," Jack said gently, kneeling down next to him and tentatively placing his hand on the Time Lord's back.

The Doctor flinched. "Please don't hurt me..." he whispered.

"I'm not going to hurt you," Jack said softly as Rose arrived next to them. "I would never hurt you."

"Get away from me!" the Doctor screamed into the mud, flailing out and almost punching Jack in the face. Jack backed off, gesturing frantically for Rose to take control. She knelt down next to the Doctor, taking him in her arms and holding him tightly.

"Doctor, it's okay, it's just Jack, yeah?" she reassured him, but he refused to move, still cocooned in his own arms. She gently eased away his arm from his face, shocked and horrified to find he was crying.

"Rose, please, get it away..." He gasped, clinging onto her in desperation. "I'm so scared..."

She took his unshaven face in both her hands, guiding him to look up at her. "Doctor, calm down." It was a perfect parallel of what he'd done for her on the beach, but she didn't have the capability to send him to sleep. "Take deep breaths."

He did so, blinking a few times before he fully opened his eyes and looked up at her.

"Okay?" she asked softly.

He nodded, pulling away from her and looking at Jack. "I'm sorry."

"You mind telling me what the hell just happened?" Jack wondered as Rose freed the Doctor's leg from the branches. The Doctor swallowed, looking extremely guilty as Rose next helped him to his feet.

"Beach," was the only word he said, pulling away from Rose as limping back the way he'd run. Rose and Jack glanced at each other for a moment, before making to follow him.

* * *

**A/N: **I'm seriously messing up established canon, here. Will explain my warped mind in the next chapter. :D

You see TenRose? I'm sorry, but you're being deluded again. She was asleep and simply snuggled up to him, like any half-asleep woman would. I cannot help the interpretations you make from my simple statements :D


	6. The Author's Excuse

**A/N: **I owe an explanation!

* * *

Chapter 6 - The Author's Excuse

The three of them were sat in a circle on the beach, the twin suns setting over the horizon bathing the entire island in a warm red glow. The Doctor was twiddling with his thumbs and staring at the ground, almost embarrassed as Rose and Jack continued to stare at him, extremely confused.

"It's you, Jack," the Doctor said quietly, not looking up. "You shouldn't be alive. You were dead. You came back to life, regrew an arm and completely rejuvenated your physical form, and as a Time Lord I _don't like that."_

Rose and Jack didn't say anything, just continued to stare. The Doctor took a breath and closed his eyes, his head still lowered to the ground before he continued.

"It's my instinct. You're a fixed point in time and space, Jack, and I am scared, _so _scared of you. It's why I ran away from you. Every Time Lord gene in my body screamed at me to run, because my animal instinct thinks you're something that will hurt me. It's like..." he paused, searching for an analogy. "... Like being chased by a very angry lion, for you."

"You're saying it like this is _my _fault," Jack said quietly.

"No, no it's not," the Doctor said quickly, holding up a hand. "I just said we need to figure out what happened to... cause this. Has anything usual happened to you?"

Jack thought for a moment, considering. "Satellite Five..."

The Doctor suddenly looked up, staring at Jack with wide eyes. He glanced over at Rose.

"I was shot by a Dalek, Doctor. I'm pretty sure I should've died. But I woke up. Like just now. That was the first time."

The Doctor swallowed. "I think I know." He glanced at Rose again, who had noticed his demeanour and was staring at him in return, inquisitive. "I think after your initial revival on Satellite Five it laid dormant in you, which is why I couldn't sense it. Now it's awakened, and it's permanent."

"But what's caused it?" Rose asked.

The Doctor swallowed again. "I think... well... I think it was the Bad Wolf."

Rose opened her mouth to speak but the Doctor got there first.

"Rose... There are a lot of things I haven't told you about that day. This wasn't how I wanted it to come out..." His throat was dry, their eyes interlocked, unblinking. And then he began to explain. Everything that had happened that day, how she had has absorbed the time vortex, how she'd come back, how she'd taken apart matter, how he had taken the vortex from her to stop her dying, how he had burnt instead...

As his tale drew to a close, Rose was staring at him no longer in confusion, but now in disbelief.

He tugged uncomfortably at his shirt collar. "I think you must've brought Jack back to life, too. But you couldn't control the power, you brought him back forever. Now it's unlocked and I can feel it."

"I can never die?" Jack asked, his voice cracking. Rose however, seemed far more interested in what the Doctor had said.

"You... You said you..."

"Sang a song and the Daleks ran away?" he asked, offering a sad smile.

"... You gave your life for me."

"Of course I did," he replied instantly. "You're... The most important thing."

For a moment, the Doctor and Rose just stared at each other, absorbed in thoughts of unspoken emotions coursing through them both.

"... I can't die?" Jack asked again. Finally the Time Lord and human woman seemed to notice him.

The Doctor grimaced. "No."

"... Can you reverse it?"

"No."

"So... I'm immortal."

The Doctor nodded a single nod, short and sharp.

Jack fell silent. The Doctor cleared his throat, looking up at the horizon where the twins suns were almost gone. "Night soon. Can you get some wood, Rose?" he asked the girl, pointedly looking at Jack who was staring at the ground. She nodded, understanding before getting to her feet and disappearing into the forest.

"Jack," the Doctor said gently, shuffling towards him and resting his hand on his shoulder. "I don't think I can fix this, but that doesn't mean I won't try to find a way. Okay?"

Jack finally raised his head, looking into the Doctor's eyes. He nodded. The Doctor threw him a smile before drawing back, making to get onto his feet, with a little trouble. Finally Jack helped him up into both feet, supporting him.

"You have no trousers," he suddenly said, gazing at the Doctor's manly hairy bare legs.

"A bear stole them," the Doctor muttered, brushing his hair back from his forehead. Surprisingly, Jack didn't make any sexual advances. Probably still in a bit of shock, the Doctor reasoned. Well, it was perfectly warranted.

"And what's that?" Jack asked, pointing at the Time Lord's leg, bandages wrapped around his upper thigh.

"What's that?" the Doctor repeated disbelievingly. "_That _was _you_!"

"Me?" he asked, but then suddenly his face fell as the memories came back with a nasty crash. "Oh... I'm sorry!"

The Doctor sighed, bringing up his hand to pull up his shirt, revealing the second injury he'd acquired in the short space of time they'd been separated. Jack winced at the sight of the row of holes in a semi-circle shape around the Doctor's front and back, surrounded by swelling and nasty bruises.

"What the hell did that?"

"The things that killed you," the Doctor replied. "It's cracked a rib, gone through my liver, just missed the inferior vena carva, straight through my kidney and made a mash of my appendix. Not to alarm you or anything, but I'm going to need some surgery if we ever get back to civilisation. Shall we go?" he asked, pulling a happy grin and making after Rose, leaving Jack standing in the middle of the beach staring at him in disbelief.

* * *

They decided to make camp on the beach where the tide wouldn't reach them. After the Doctor got the fire going they feasted on a Boost bar each and shared a packet of prawn cocktail crisps. They were so engrossed in their makeshift dinner that when the song started, it took a moment for them to process what it meant...

Jack went rigid instantly. He sat bolt upright, the prawn cocktail crisp stopping halfway to his mouth. The Doctor realised what was happening, using Rose to clamber to his feet and run in front of Jack, grabbing his shoulders.

"Jack, listen to me, you need to block it out..."

But Jack was already gone, replaced by this insane man acting purely by animal instinct – an insatiable desire to get to the source of the music. He roughly shoved the Doctor away and got to his feet, making to run before Rose dived on him and rugby tackled him to the ground in a surprising show of agility. The Doctor scrambled over to the stunned Jack, quickly putting him to sleep before he rolled over onto his back, groaning in pain and holding his side.

"No alternative," the Doctor muttered, brow furrowed. "Tie him to a tree or something, we can't let him go to the sound."

"Okay," Rose replied, doing what he had said. Once Jack was tied securely to the strongest-looking tree by vines, Rose took a seat next to the Doctor, who was still lying winded on the floor.

He looked up at her, giving a weak smile. "Knocked my side."

"Do you need anythin'?"

He shook his head. "Just give me a moment."

"How bad is it?"

He pulled a face, not wanting to lie. "Quite bad." He caught her expression and quickly added, "not _too _bad. Just if I suddenly go cold and stop breathing I've probably fallen into a healing coma, okay? And I'll wake up a few days later."

Rose stared at him, and he processed what he'd just said.

"Oh, yeah, or I might be dead," he added, grinning.

Rose sighed despairingly, but it turned into a laugh halfway through. "So we're not gonna chase after this sound?"

He shook his head. "It's too dangerous."

"I thought we liked danger?" she asked with a cheeky smile, tongue between her teeth. He responded in turn, and she laughed.

"Not this kind," he said lowly, suddenly very serious. "This seems to be a form of deep hypnotism, spreading out through a ten mile radius from this island, unrelenting. Whatever is creating this song is guaranteed to be _extremely _powerful. It hasn't snagged me yet, but it's trying. And if it succeeds I'll become just like Jack and I'll need tying to a tree as well. Which is why we need to get off this island as quickly as possible."

There was a momentary pause as Rose took this all in, until she finally nodded. "Get some sleep, anyway. I'll watch Jack."

"But I could..." the Doctor began, but she quickly placed her finger on his lips and pressed down, shushing him.

"Good night," she said, leaning forward and pressing a dab of a kiss to his forehead. The Doctor turned instantly pink, but she had thankfully already turned away.

* * *

**A/N: **TenRose? I don't see it. You're all being psychotic again :D


	7. Something Strange

**A/N: **Sorry for the wait! No computer really hinders this whole writing business.

Enjoy a rubbish chapter!

* * *

Chapter 7 - Something Strange 

"Ready?"

The Doctor nodded, hitting his stick into the sand with his body turned to face Jack, bracing himself for what was to come. Behind him Rose readied to run, bouncing on the sand in bare feet, watching Jack with hawk eyes...

Jack took a few steps back, warming his legs up before he suddenly burst into a run, swinging his arm in an overhead throw and releasing the rock in his hand directly at the Doctor. The Doctor swung his stick and caught the rock directly in the middle of the wood. Instantly the rock launched into the air at quite a considerable speed, soared over the pack of trees a fair way away from them and landed with a quiet and distant 'plop!' in the middle of the sea.

"Go Rose, go, go!" the Doctor yelled as Jack tore off to try and retrieve the rock which most likely had already sunk. Rose instantly ran between the two makeshift wickets, the Doctor cheering her on. "Twenty more runs and it's a default win!"

She ran like a crazy yo-yo, going backwards and forwards repeatedly before the Doctor finally yelled, "WIN!" and she launched herself onto him in a tackle of a hug, the both of them falling down back onto the sand, Rose with the Doctor sprawled out beneath her.

She instantly backed off, looking a bit worried. "I'm sorry! You okay?"

The Doctor laughed, grinning up at her. "Fine!" he replied.

A smile spread onto her face, as she flipped over onto her back next to him, taking his hand. The three had spent the entire day spelling out an SOS message on the beach with rocks that they hoped a passing airship might see. It was a long shot, but without Rose's phone or any other form of communication it seemed like the only thing they _could _do in the wait of a rescue.

They both gazed out to sea, seeing the twins Suns setting on the horizon as both humanoids were encased in the same warm red glow as before. Rose could really appreciate the view now - the glow cross-faded into a deep red from the sea's surface and intensely burned in the sky, as though it were on fire.

"This planet's so pretty," she said quietly, smiling. "Really, this holiday hasn't been so bad."

"Speak for yourself," the Doctor muttered.

She nudged him in his good side playfully, and he couldn't help but look at her; her blonde hair splayed on the sand, her skin aglow with the light from the setting Suns making her radiant and quite, quite beautiful.

"Okay, shipwrecks and sharks and insane Jacks and bears aside, maybe it's not so bad," he admitted. "But I don't go on holiday often enough for comparison."

"What you on about? Your life is one long holiday."

The Doctor paused to consider this. "Good point."

They both fell silent, lying hand-in-hand on the sand and gazing up at the setting Suns together in silence.

* * *

From afar Jack watched the pair lying together lost in the world of beauty around them. A small grin appeared on his face. He should probably leave them to it.

He made his way into the forest, and began to collect some firewood.

* * *

"Okay," the Doctor began one bright warm morning a few days later, addressing his companions around the died-out fire. "I think we're all going to have to start facing the fact that we may in fact be stuck on this island a bit longer than we originally anticipated. Rose, food situation?"

She made a point of checking her lunchbox, holding it up for all to see. "Bleak."

"So we have no food, we're sleeping outside unprotected every night, we all stink and Jack and I are beginning to develop some impressive beards," he said, stroking his own furry face thoughtfully. "Suggestions?"

"I can probably build a fishing rig?" Jack suggested. "And I've seen some berries around."

The Doctor nodded. "Yeah, most of the species of berries I've seen here are edible. So Jack, you're on food duty. Rose..."

"Stop us smelling?" she asked, grinning.

He nodded. "If you can find a place we can bathe, wash our clothes, that'd be great. Free from Leviathans, that's even better. I'll find us a shelter and stockpile plenty of wood. Everyone clear?"

"Yessir!" both his companions replied with a mock salute.

"Meet back here when you're done. And don't salute."

* * *

The Doctor was the last to arrive, looking a little beyond exhausted and pained but still grinning quite happily. He waved to them both as he came in range, gesturing frantically.

"Come and see!" he yelled.

Jack and Rose exchanged a look before getting up, making to follow the erratic Time Lord into the forest. He led them through dense forestry, over a stream and skipping across logs until they emerged into a clearing with a pile of rocks just in front of them. The Doctor proceeded further, clambering over the large stones, pulling back some vines, ducking, and suddenly completely disappearing.

"Come on!" the Doctor yelled, his voice echoed and distant. Jack and Rose glanced at each other again before the woman led the way, pushing herself over the rocks, pulling back the vines and ducking.

She emerged next to the Doctor into an extremely spacious cave, the only light source being a fire the Doctor had lit in the centre, sending flickers of light to fill up the cave. But the most astounding thing was pictures drawn onto the wall... Rose instantly thought of cavemen and the things she'd learnt in History lessons but these were far too well done and incredibly painted to be equated to anything like that.

"A group of people used to live here," the Doctor announced, still looking incredibly pleased with himself. He pointed out the word painted large and bright in a strange language. "Called the Kerrontows. Quite recently actually by the quality of these paintings."

"Why isn't the TARDIS translating that?" Rose wondered, tracing the strange symbols on the wall.

"We're out of range," the Doctor replied simply. "And look!" He pointed to a large looking hole in the floor with smooth sides, quite deep. "This is where we can put Jack when he goes mental."

"Nice," Rose complimented, grinning. By now Jack had caught up with them, standing in the centre of the cave and looking around at the pictures, frowning.

"They're telling a story," he said, and the Doctor instantly moved over to examine them in more detail.

"Let's see..." The first picture in the sequence showed a group of eight people standing on a planet, waving. "They were from Juzu Major." He paused, thought about this. "They were pretty far from home."

"Maybe they were on holiday?" Rose suggested with a slight smile. He looked at her and raised an eyebrow slightly before looking back at the wall paintings again.

"There's a man here waving them off..."

"Hey, that looks like the guy who rented us our boat," Jack said suddenly, pointing at rather distinctively fat figure. The Doctor and Rose narrowed their eyes, staring at the picture.

"Wow, it does!" Rose said, laughing. The Doctor laughed too, before he checked the paintings again.

"So the man's waving them off, yadda yadda yadda... because they're in... a boat..." Suddenly something seemed slightly strange... the Doctor shifted over quickly to the next painting. "But something went wrong, they got lost, the gyroscope was faulty... Suddenly the men, there were three of them out of the eight, went insane and started talking about some music. They caused the ship to wreck on this island..."

Now the alarm bells were ringing. None of them could believe their eyes. If this was accurate...

"Two women died, one man died. The men went back to normal in the morning, but they had no SOS and three of their group were dead... The next night came, the men went crazy again. They went back to normal the next morning. The group of people decided to start making a home for themselves here, but a few weeks later the two men suddenly broke free and disappeared into the forest, towards the source of the music. The women followed to save them and... and..."

It was the end of the pictures, but there was some faded writing on the wall after the last picture, in that strange language.

"What does it say?" Rose asked, her voice barely a whisper.

"If these are the last words on the wall, we never returned," the Doctor replied quietly.

All three of them fell absolutely silent.

"I knew that boat was way too cheap," Jack muttered.

"You mean that boat guy... he actually _wanted _us to get lost and come here?" Rose croaked, staring at the Doctor with wide, terrified eyes.

The Doctor couldn't say anything. He didn't know _what _to say. If this was true... The boat owner wouldn't report them as missing. Because his intention all along had been to send them here. No one would come to rescue them.

Ever.

* * *

**A/N: **I did not plan the latter half of that chapter. I'm going off at a tangent. Yet again.

Review reply! Geez, I'm useless. Lol! :P


	8. These Bears Aren't Happy

**A/N: **h I'm so bad at review reply. But my excuse is I have no computer so the time I spend on one of my family member's stolen computers I like to write! Else my brain blows up, you know?

* * *

Chapter 8 - These Bears Aren't Happy

The bathing spot Rose had discovered was by no means anything short of excellent. The water for bathing was clean, warm and animal-free, with a rockpool to the side where they could wash their clothes and a lot of flat rocks to dry them out on. Rose had even found some sharp rocks that the Doctor and Jack could use to shave.

But Rose had been unusually quiet ever since they had found the cave. The Doctor could see her now from his position on the beach. She was standing facing away from him in the bathing spot, staring out across the sea. Not really thinking anything through he stripped off his clothes and stepped into the sea, wading into the warm, inviting, calm depths until he was mere metres from her.

"Hey," he began softly. She turned in surprise and he quickly worked out that she was as naked as he was. Suddenly he felt extremely wary of their close proximity.

"Hi," she replied, offering a smile. All of the nerves in the Doctor quickly vanished, replaced by concern. The smile hadn't quite reached her eyes. Something was wrong.

"Are you okay?" he asked seriously, gazing at her.

She nodded a little too quickly. "I'm fine."

"Liar," he replied, giving her a small grin. she smiled again, but her resolve was waning. He reached up to brush back a piece of hair from her eyes, and suddenly he realised that it wasn't drops of water from the sea on her face. She was crying.

"Hey, hey, what's wrong?" he asked, a little shocked.

She continued to cry, sobbing with her head lowered, avoiding his eyes. It was breaking his hearts. "I'm... I'm never gonna... see my Mum again... am I?" she whispered, stilted from her grief.

"Yes you will," the Doctor said gently. "I promise."

But she didn't stop crying. He needed to stop this. He couldn't stand to see her cry. He placed his hands on her bare shoulders, soft skin almost electric with his touch. "Rose..."

Slowly she raised her head, looking up to him. His deep brown eyes, always so intelligent, were staring straight into her's, filled with concern. Suddenly they were lost in each other, both completely naked and barely inches away.

Neither of them knew how it happened, or even who instigated it, but suddenly Rose was in the Doctor's protective embrace with soft lips pressed to her own. She wanted to pull away, but something was niggling in the back of her mind. It was wrong on _so _many levels, but so much more _right _than she could _ever _have imagined.

They press their bodies up close, feeling everything they had to give each other as two humanoids lost in each other's love. She found herself taking the lead with the kiss, wrapping her arms around the back of his neck and pulling him close. Every tiny amount of love she had ever felt for the Doctor was somehow concentrated into this single moment, this single kiss. She had often fantasised about this moment alone in her bed in the TARDIS, and it was more than she ever could have imagined. He tasted of peppermint. She wasn't quite sure how that was possible, but she didn't allow her mind to drift. She wanted every detail of this to be etched in her memories forever, because she really felt like she could faint at any moment...

She lowered her hands to his sides, and suddenly the Doctor yelped and jumped back in shock and pain, a hand on his injured side.

Rose gasped. "I'm sorry!" she squeaked, hands over her mouth. "Are you okay?"

He breathed for a few moments, his brow furrowed before he managed to look at her and pull a weak grin. "I'm fine."

For a few moments there was utter silence.

The Doctor straightened, clearing his throat and looking everywhere but her eyes. "We should... umm..." he gestured vaguely to the beach.

She nodded hastily in agreement.

* * *

Now in freshly washed clothes, shaved and bathed, the three were making their way back to the cave to put Jack in the hole and settle down for the night. Rose and Jack were still a little rusty on where exactly the cave _was_, but the Doctor seemed to know what he was doing and the other two had since come to learn to trust him in these situations. A trust which was progressively withering as each second ticked by.

"Just around this corner!" the Doctor announced happily for the fourth time in two minutes.

"Are we lost?" Rose wondered, slightly dreading the answer.

"Nah!" the Doctor replied confidently. "I know what I'm doi-"

A loud, carnivorous growl easily stopped him in mid-sentence. He suddenly stopped, his eyes widening and darting around the forest. He recognised that growl... It was of a Widowmaker that probably still had his trousers.

But before he had a chance to voice his concerns, they appeared. Large, fat bears stepping out from behind tiny trunks of trees like a cartoon, at least five of them... all staring at the group of tiny vulnerable humanoids.

"Doctor..." Jack began hesitantly, backing away. "I think they want your shirt to complete the collection."

The Doctor was backing away too, searching out for Rose's arm behind him as a reassurance she was there. Her hand took his as they continued to back away, their hearts pulsating a crazy beat in their throats.

The Widowmakers were advancing, closer and closer...

"When I say run, run," the Doctor whispered, eyes transfixed on the bear closest to him - which also happened to be the biggest and meanest looking one of the lot. It stared down at him with a kind of primal desire to rip his limbs off that the Doctor had only ever seen in the face of Jackie Tyler when he hadn't taken Rose back for a few months.

"What about you?" Rose whispered back, her grip tightening on his hand.

The Doctor didn't reply. He was still backing away slowly, one hand remaining in Rose's with the other clutching his side protectively. The truth was he would _never _be able to outrun them, not with his injuries. He was quite literally staring Death in the face. But he would do everything in his power to make sure Rose got to safety.

Silent seconds passed.

The bear-like creature standing at the front suddenly launched faster than the blink of an eye, the others behind it quickly joining in. It dived towards the three, claw outstretched and teeth bared with a scream of a hunter moving in for the kill...

"RUN!" the Doctor yelled, simultaneously turning around on the spot and bolting as fast as he could through the forest with Jack and Rose hot on his heels. "The cave! Head to the cave!"

Rose could hear them behind her, their heavy breaths, the thuds of their fearsomely sharp claws making mincemeat of the forest floor the humanoids were struggling to get across. Were they getting closer? Were they? It felt like it, their breath getting louder and she swore she could feel it on the back of her neck...

She could feel the Doctor slowing down, every step he took he cried out with pain. Rose forged onwards, being the drive as she half guided, half dragged the Time Lord through the forest. But soon enough they were both slowing down and the Doctor was screaming in pain and for Rose to let him go and her to carry on running, but she wasn't going to have that. She continued to drag him, completely aware of how much he was hurting but if she didn't take responsibility he wouldn't have a body to feel the pain _with_.

Jack had pulled away now, just a blackened figure in the distance unaware of his friends' plight. Rose tried screaming to him for help but it was as though all the anxiety and fear had somehow grabbed her voicebox and refused to let go. She could barely breathe, barely see, but she had to keep going...

Suddenly she was stopped dead in her tracks by the weight of the Doctor's hand, causing her to stumble and fall backwards onto the floor. She landed next to the Doctor who was lying on the forest floor panting for air, an expression of extreme pain etched on his face. He opened his eyes to look at her, tears falling down his cheeks - though Rose couldn't tell whether it was from the pain, the sorrow or the fear. Maybe all of them combined...

"Rose..." he gasped. "Please... run..."

But there wasn't any time left to run. The bear creatures had caught them up, and they were angry. The leader of the bear pack grabbed the Doctor around his injured leg, instantly cuing the Time Lord's scream as he was lifted into the air, hanging upside-down from his injured thigh. Another one grabbed Rose around the middle and lifted her up too, though thankfully upright. Rose instinctively struggled to get free but the sharp, long claws of the Widowmaker were wrapped around her chest... one move and they would cut straight through her skin; one squeeze and her innards would pop out her mouth like ketchup out of a bottle...

Despite the fact she was utterly, utterly terrified from the fact there was a carnivorous bear's teeth barely inches from her face, she forced herself to calm down and look over at the Doctor. But the horror of the situation was only just beginning as the bear that had him in its grip was shaking him around, tilting its head and staring at him, intrigued, as if waiting for seasoning to fall out of him. The grip the bear had on the Doctor's bare legs was tight, and blood was quite copiously pouring already, slicking down his skin.

Rose had never heard him scream so much. He was trying desperately to release himself from the creature's claw but he couldn't do anything but feel the pain as it continued to shake him around like a ragdoll. Finally it stopped and Rose breathed a sigh of relief, suddenly not caring about the danger she was in because all that mattered was the Doctor. He was gasping in pain, still hanging upside-down in the creature's grip, struggling to get free.

And then the bear suddenly lifted the Doctor high up in the air, a sudden sense of dread began to build in Rose... The bear slammed the Doctor's body down into the dirt. Rose unintentionally screamed, and the grip around her chest tightened so she forced herself to calm...

The Doctor was slammed down into the dirt again, screams of pain tearing from his throat which was quickly replaced by blood, spilling out of his mouth from the severe internal damage he was taking. Was it _ever _going to end?

But she suddenly found she had problems. The creature holding her had grown bored of watching the Doctor, and was staring straight at her, as if contemplating what to do next. She suddenly realised the sonic screwdriver was still in her pocket - but there was no way of reaching it. If she could get to it...

But time was running out. She risked another glance over to the Doctor, and was absolutely horrified to see he had gone completely limp, still hanging upside-down.

"Doctor!" she screamed, and suddenly she didn't care about her own well being. She struggled to get free but the Widowmaker holding her wasn't having any of that, and tightened its grip even more. Sharp pains shot through her chest, but she couldn't tell if she was bleeding. It didn't matter anyway. She struggled for all it was worth until the creature lifted her to its face, peering at her intently. With no time to decide whether it was sane or not, she took a breath and headbutted the creature right on the nose.

The creature dropped her in surprise, more pain instantly shooting through her ankle. With the image of the Doctor burnt into her eyes she frantically fumbled for the sonic and brought it out, just in time to see a crowd of angry Widowmakers making their advance on her. She lifted the sonic to the one at the front, prayed to God it was on a good setting, and pressed down.

The sonic had no effect.

There was a thud of a fallen body next to her and she turned her head to see the leader had become bored of the Doctor not moving and had thrown him to the ground, right next to her. He was covered in blood with his face barely inches from her own, his limbs splayed haphazardly on the ground. His eyes were closed with blood still dribbling from his mouth, down onto the forest floor.

Tears formed in her eyes. Was he dead? No. She could hear him struggling to breath...

She took his hand and squeezed tightly, pressing a kiss to his forehead. They would be together for this. She closed her eyes...

Suddenly there was the deafening sound of bullets firing from very close to her. She wrenched open her eyes to find the bears standing over them growling in pain, backing away in fear. A strong hand suddenly grabbed her arm, hauling to her feet.

"Get the Doctor out of here!" Jack yelled, already in the process of reloading. "Now!"

She had no choice. Ignoring the sharp pains in her ankle she grabbed the Doctor and heaved him onto her back, struggling under his weight before she began to stagger through the forest, panting from exhaustion, fear and pain. Behind her bullets were firing one after the other in a crescendo, and suddenly Jack's immortality seemed less like an ailment and more like a Godsend. She didn't have to worry about him not coming back - it was only the Doctor she had to fear for. And he'd be okay. He was always okay.

By some miracle of creation she managed to locate the cave entrance, setting him down on the floor and dragging him in through the vines and into the cave itself. The last of the suns' dying light was enough to help her move him next to the fire and pillow his head. It was their arrival all over again as all Rose could see was blood everywhere, from his side, his mouth, his thigh and deep lacerations all the way up his legs. He was littered with bruises from the abuse he'd taken and right now he looked like a mangled corpse from a car crash.

"Hold on Doctor," she whispered, cupping his cheek and consequently getting his blood all over her hand. "Please don't leave me now..."


	9. Don't Hate The Innocent Author

**A/N: **Cauterising was not my idea.

* * *

Chapter 9 - Don't Hate The Innocent Author

When Jack got back half an hour later after quite a few bear-related deaths Rose was still trying to clean the Doctor's wounds. Cleaning his legs had revealed some rather spectacular afflictions that looked horrendously deep, and the wound in his side had been ripped back open again. Neither Jack nor Rose knew what to do. They didn't have any medical supplies and the Doctor wasn't even conscious to point them in the right direction.

Jack kept running back and forth for water, but even after half an hour of work the Doctor still wasn't fully clean. The bruises on his body were huge and dark, covering his entire body like some kind of second skin.

It was a godsend when he suddenly woke up, though evidently in absolute agony. Rose was over him in an instant, brushing back his matted hair from his eyes as he winced.

"Ow," was the first thing he said.

Rose couldn't help but snort with laughter, but her expression rapidly turned back into one of regret and anxiety. "We... don't know what to do," she admitted quietly.

Jack nodded, leaning over the Doctor. "What can we do?"

The Doctor's brow furrowed for a moment. "Cauterise," he wheezed.

Jack's eyes widened, and Rose's followed but a few seconds later. "What? But..."

"Wood... from the fire," he said.

Rose looked over at the fire still burning, and the hot sticks within it. He wanted them to...

"S'okay," he said, catching her expression. "Need it."

Jack and Rose exchanged a glance, as if silently battling each other to not be the one to do it. The silence was long.

"Please," the Doctor gasped.

Finally Jack rose to his feet, feeling utterly nauseous. It took all he had to work his legs to move to the fire, and even more to take one out. The fire burning on the end of it quickly died and he was left holding a smoking hot stick, standing over the Doctor and staring at it in utter bewilderment.

"... What bits?" Jack finally croaked. It felt like an out-of-body experience. He was going to willingly burn the Doctor...

"Legs," the Doctor whispered, looking like he wanted to gesture but couldn't quite bring himself to face the inevitable pain that would come with it.

"Okay," Jack said, though he was sure someone else had said that. He began to move forward, and knelt down at the Doctor's feet, holding the stick above the Time Lord's legs.

"Hold me down," the Doctor said to Rose, and she couldn't do a thing but obey. She pinned his shoulders to the floor, making sure she was facing away. She didn't want to see it, under _any _circumstances. "Two seconds burst," he said to Jack. "Don't stop. Whatever I say. Promise me."

Jack nodded. "I promise. Ready?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah," the Doctor nodded, and tensed beneath Rose's grip, closing his eyes.

"Wait," Rose suddenly said, and dived towards the small pile of sticks in the corner of the cave. She picked the cleanest one she could find and clambered back over to the Doctor, placing it between his teeth before resuming her initial position. "Okay."

Jack nodded, and began to lower the stick.

Seconds felt like hours.

Suddenly the Doctor jerked below her, screaming in pain as the hot wood cauterised his flesh. The stick in his mouth snapped in two as he thrashed around beneath her, tears exploding out of his eyes...

"Stop!" the Doctor yelled, but Jack was blocking everything out, focussing only on counting the seconds. Two seconds passed, and he quickly pulled the stick away again.

The Doctor was crying beneath her, begging Jack to stop and for Rose to let him go. Rose quickly got half of the stick and shoved it between his teeth again. He tried to spit it out but she kept it firmly in, straddling him and pinning him down with every ounce of her strength, despite how much she dearly didn't want to do this.

"PLEASE!" the Doctor shrieked from beneath her through the stick between his teeth. He couldn't pronounce the syllables but Rose was getting every single word of it. "PLEASE! LET GO! PLEASE DON'T!"

Jack pressed down again, and the whole process was repeated. The Doctor was still screaming, crying and trying desperately to get free but he had such little strength in him that it was hardly a fight at all.

The third time was the last, but even before he had the choice to scream the Doctor had passed clean out, lines of tears still running silently down the sides of his face.

Then it was over. Jack quickly drew back the stick and threw it across the cave as far away from him as possible as all he could smell was burnt flesh all over his hands, his arms, his clothes...

"Oh God," Rose whispered, hugging the Doctor's head close to her chest, kissing his forehead, rocking back and forth. "You're okay, you're okay..."

Jack watched them both, curled in on himself for what he'd done. He felt so sick. But he knew that such a primitive method was needed to stop the bleeding because they had nothing even _remotely_ medical.

He looked at Rose again. She was still holding the Doctor's near-lifeless body tightly, and he swallowed. This was going to be difficult. They were going to have to start facing the fact that regeneration was the only solution. The Doctor had been so damaged, he should've been dead hours ago...

And he looked very corpse-like right now.

If the Doctor bounced back to even half the strength he'd had before then it would be nothing short of a miracle.

* * *

The light had disappeared, and night reigned. Jack and Rose realised at the same time that the song would be starting soon, and the Doctor still wasn't awake.

Maybe he'd never wake up.

Resigning to the inevitably, Jack kissed Rose and the Doctor on the forehead before giving Rose a very tight, supportive hug.

"Look after him," were his last words to Rose before he clambered into the hole, and very soon after the screaming commenced.

Only Rose remained of their little TARDIS trio. Everything felt so cold and bleak. This planet, the planet she had previously thought to be so beautiful she now knew lurked with terrors and fears beyond her own understanding. Every single animal noise from outside chilled her to the bone, even the sound of the wind blowing through the trees. Her imagination conjured up images she'd rather be without.

She was terrified.

And so, _so _alone.

She snuggled up close to the Doctor, somehow feeling a little more protected. Jack was still screaming to be let free as the noises of the oppressive world outside assaulted her ears with him, but she tried so hard to concentrate on the Doctor's breathing, stilted though it was.

She looked at his face, still bruised and battered almost beyond recognition. She reached up a hand and hovered it above his mouth. She could feel the warm breath on her palm. She lowered it again, cupping his cheek, his skin soft beneath her touch.

"I wish you were here," she whispered.

He didn't reply.

* * *

Night turned inevitably back into day, and Rose hadn't slept a wink.

She helped Jack back out of the hole, who's first priority was to check on the Doctor. He still hadn't woken up and his skin was quite cold, though he was breathing and his hearts were beating. It was _something_, at least.

They ate breakfast in tense, emotional silence. After a long pause Jack finally said something about getting some more sticks for the fire, and he swiftly left.

More silence.

"Rose?" the Doctor's voice suddenly whispered, rich with pain and weakness.

Rose sat up immediately, alert. "Doctor?"

"Talk to me…"

Rose swallowed, staring down at his bruised, cut and pale face. His eyes were barely open. "What about?"

"Anything…" he wheezed. "Don't. Don't let me… fall asleep…." There were tears rolling down the side of his face from the sheer exertion of talking alone. "I don't… I don't want to die."

Rose could feel herself welling up. She rested a hand on the side of his face, stroking his cheek with her thumb. "Doctor, I… I understand if it's easier for you to regenerate."

His eyes opened slightly, looking up at her through a slice of vision. "You… don't mind?"

She fought every instinct inside of her. It was the right thing to do, after all. "I can't watch you like this."

The Doctor just nodded.

She stared at him, her heart tearing in two even before she spoke her next words, "Are you gonna do it?"

He nodded again.

"Okay," she replied, but her voice was barely audible as the tears commenced.

"Please, stay with me," he said quietly.

She didn't care about what she did next. Still with her hand on his cheek she leant forward and pressed a light kiss to his lips before pulling back, gazing down at him from above with the tears now rolling down her face and splashing onto his cheek. "Forever," she whispered.

"I need to… go outside," he said quietly. "Regeneration… energy is powerful. Blow a hole… through… through the roof," he said, pulling a slight smile.

She couldn't help but return it. It would be the last time she'd ever see that smile.

It took a long time to get him out into open, every brain cell in her mind trying to reassure her she'd made the right choice whenever he cried out in pain. They finally got there and he told her to let go of him. She obliged, but stayed near. He could barely stand on his own two feet.

"Stay back," he said, and she once again obeyed, stepping right back to allow him some space, hugging herself.

The Doctor looked at her. He stared at the tears falling uncontrollably down her cheeks; the utter misery on her face; the way she couldn't even look at him…

A hue of gold began to dance on his skin, quickly getting more and intense before golden light suddenly shot out of his limbs - his back arched, burning pain shooting through every cell in his body…

* * *

Jack saw it before he heard it. He was just on the way back to the cave when sudden, bright golden light exploded out of nowhere, streaming up into the sky from somewhere quite near him. Instantaneously all of the wildlife that occupied the forest seemed to be screaming and panicking around him; uncontrollable squawks of fright. The sky was lit up as though on fire as bird creatures filled the skies - the entire world drowned in utter chaos.

He suddenly felt very cold inside.

He knew what that light was.

He dropped the wood, and began to run towards the light at breakneck speed.

* * *

**A/N: **I've been writing like a crazy thing, I'm now a chapter ahead! :o

Also today is my last day of being 17. Tomorrow I will be 18, and I become a mature, responsible adult overnight. I hope.


	10. Spoilers!

**A/N:** Ooooh the cheese and ham are dripping from the walls... :o

* * *

Chapter 10 - Spoilers!

Jack ran like the wind, not caring for anything but the golden light of what could only be regeneration in the distance. It was his only focus. He _had _to get there…

Although it felt like _days_ to Jack, it could have only been a matter of seconds before the golden light suddenly disappeared, and the normality of the world before quickly resumed. He stopped dead in his tracks, completely cold and staring at the place the light had been seconds before.

That was it.

The Doctor had regenerated.

No... wait. It hadn't finished… He squinted, trying to make it out, but he could've sworn…

The golden light had changed colour. It wasn't gold anymore. It was black. Black clouds of something that was _not _regenerative energy spiralling up into the air like a poisonous gas in a tornado. And someone was screaming, screaming their lungs out. A man.

The Doctor.

Jack started to run again.

* * *

Rose's grief had rapidly turned to shock as suddenly the gold has changed to black, the Doctor screaming and thrashing around right before her eyes. She wanted so badly to run forward to him… But somehow she knew if she got into that black it would not end well. She restrained herself, not knowing whether to cry or scream or maybe both…

It stopped abruptly, and the man in the centre of it all collapsed to the ground, unmoving. As the last of the blackness disappeared into nothing Rose was already running to the Doctor, crashing down on her knees next to him and cradling him in her arms. He was the same, same Doctor, same battered and badly injured form, and right now he was looking up at her, his teeth gritted, fighting his pain.

"Couldn't…" he began, wheezing. "Stopped it… at… point of… no… return."

"You stopped it?" she gasped in disbelief. "But…"

"Couldn't… bear your… face… last time. Rejected… me. Not… again," he gasped, reaching up through his spiral of pain to touch her lips with his thumb.

Rose didn't know what to say. He'd stopped it because of her? He thought she wouldn't like him anymore like last time?

"I… love you… Your face, before… Broke… my hearts…" he whispered, more tears rolling down his face. "Please… understand."

"I do," she whispered, kissing his forehead. "I love you too. So much."

He nodded. "Fight. For… you." He was fading. "Stay…"

"I will," she whispered.

He offered her a weak grin. "I'm… becoming… human."

She openly laughed, but she was still crying. "Please don't die. You need to tell my Mum about this. She's gonna freak," she said, forcing a smile – but it was fleeting. "... Don't die."

"Never… again," he replied. For a moment they just gazed into each other's eyes, lost in waves of emotions before he finally croaked, "co… ma."

Then he sagged in her arms, and closed his eyes.

"Rose?" suddenly a voice yelled from the distance and she looked up to see Jack running towards her and the Doctor through the woodland.

"Jack!" she called back, the word almost catching in her through.

"I saw the light... Is he...?" He reached them, kneeling down beside them both, but the Doctor had the same face as before. He had told them - warned them - after his surprise regeneration before about how it would happen and what to do if he regenerated again.

"He stopped it, the regeneration," Rose said quietly, readjusting the Doctor in her arms. "For me..."

His brow furrowed, looking back up at Rose. "What?"

"He said..." she swallowed, suddenly nervous. "I reacted so badly last time, I really hurt him, you know? He said he didn't want to see me look like that again. He said he loves me."

"And you're surprised how?" was Jack's rather surprising retort. "Come on, get him inside."

* * *

Rose refused to move from the Doctor's side all day, but her mood had dramatically improved since he'd woken up. Deep down both she and Jack knew that although the Doctor had promised to give all the fight he could, he was still very badly injured and hanging on a thread.

The day passed slowly. Evening arrived and once again Jack and Rose ate together, though this time it was much more of a chatty and happy atmosphere. Jack cleaned up whilst Rose checked on the Doctor, who was still in a coma. His hearts were extremely faint, his skin was cold and he wasn't breathing, but that was to be expected with the healing coma.

But then something altogether unexpected happened.

Suddenly a wind started blowing through the cave despite the fact there couldn't be a source. Then there was the churning sound of ancient engines, groaning their way through existence as before either of them could register it a bright blue box faded into existence just in front of them, the familiar white lights flashing on top.

The door opened.

"Hi!" the Doctor said brightly, beaming from ear-to-ear at he grinned down at their shocked faces. "I'm from the future. Your future. I'm here because you will tell me in my past self's future present that I came from the future to the past that is your present in your future to tell you what my future self from you and my past self's present said in my past self's present then past. With me so far?"

Jack and Rose stared at him blankly.

The future Doctor's smile persisted anyway, hands shoved into his pockets. "Good. I can't say much, but what I'm about to say is going to save your lives in the future. So listen carefully. The answer to all this is..." He paused, allowing a moment for a small non-existent drum roll. "... The Cheeky Girls."

He stopped and stared at them both, as if waiting for a reaction. Silent seconds passed. He bounced on his heels slightly.

"You what?" Rose finally asked, far too confused to process what was going on.

He shrugged. "I know, I know, but apparently that's all I'm supposed to say. But I _can_..."

"Daddy!" a child's voice suddenly came from inside the TARDIS and the Doctor's eyes widened, spinning around on his heel and sticking his head in through the door.

"Not now, Emma!" he yelled inside. "Remember what Daddy said? He said no coming into the console room whilst he's travelling back on his own timeline!"

"But Daddy! Kai hit me!"

"No, I didn't!" suddenly yelled another voice - this time a young boy's.

"Did too!" the girl screamed.

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Kai! Emma! Go and find your Mummy!" the Doctor yelled back into the console room through the crescendo of two children locked in argument.

"What's goin' on?" asked a new voice - Rose recognised herself.

"Rose will you _please_ get them out of here?"

"Oh, you doin' your timeline thing?"

"Yes I am and we're destroying our past as we speak!"

"Doc?" yet another new voice - Captain Jack Harkness. "The kettle's exploded again..."

"I don't care! Get out of here, all of you!" the Doctor was yelling, but it seemed to get lost in the multitude of voices of screaming children and adults alike. "Emma! Get off the chair! Kai! Kai! Don't touch that!" he screamed, running back into the TARDIS. "DON'T TOUCH THAT!"

And just like that, the TARDIS warped out of existence. For a moment there was only silence as Jack and Rose sat cross-legged on the floor of the cave, staring at the wall in complete and utter shock where the Doctor had been stood.

Then the sound of the TARDIS started again, and very soon the blue box was once again stood in front of them. The door opened and once again the Doctor stepped out, hands in pockets.

"As I was saying," he began, as if nothing had happened. "That's all I can tell you, but I can give you this..." He turned and reached back in through the TARDIS door, lifting out a large back pack and giving it to Jack. "It's got blankets, food, stuff like that." He nodded to the Doctor still lying in Rose's arms, comatose. "When he wakes up he'll be hungry and thirsty, he'll need lots and lots of protein and water. Keep him warm until then. You got that?"

Jack nodded. Rose was still staring at him in complete shock at what she just witnessed.

"Good, I'll see you in the future then, good luck," the Doctor said happily, giving them both a cheery wave before stepping back inside the TARDIS. Seconds later the familiar blue faded from existence, leaving the three alone in the cave.

Jack looked at Rose. She was staring blankly ahead at where the Doctor had been.

"Taking a while to process, right?" Jack asked, grinning. He opened the backpack and began to rummage through, bringing out all manner of supplies - blankets, sealed packs of food, even some razors. There was a flare as well... for gaining the attention of any passing overhead planes. Jack quickly took out one of the blankets and placed it over the Doctor. The Time Lord didn't move an inch.

He looked up at Rose again. Still as a statue. "Rose? Rose."

She turned her head to look at him, her jaw agape. "I... we... he..."

Jack snorted with laughter, moving over to draw her into a one-armed hug. "Congratulations in advance."

"I..." She still couldn't seem to find the right words. "I..."

"Need some sleep?" Jack suggested, already pulling out another blanket and handing it to her. She stared at the blanket as though it were about to jump up and suffocate her. "Get some rest."

She looked up at him, still staring with wide eyes. Finally she nodded, lying down next to the Doctor and pulling the blanket over herself, wondering just how her future might play out with the Doctor.

* * *

Rose was fairly used to undressing the Doctor while he was unconscious by now, so there was no particular embarrassment in stripping him to his boxers (not completely naked - she wasn't _quite _sure if they'd advanced to that level of intimacy just yet) to wash him in the bathing spot the next morning.

Admittedly some parts had been problematic, but it was just like a bed bath. She lathered him in the bath products the future Doctor had found essential to give them, whilst being careful not to get it into his wounds. Him waking up to that would be a whole other level of _no fun._

But the Doctor who had appeared to them had seemed healthy. If he was from the future, did that guarantee he would be okay? Because if he had died here then wouldn't he have had a different body in the future? Unless there was some weird timey-wimey reason that it could still happen...

She decided to stop thinking about it. A little because it was making her depressed, but mostly because it made her head hurt.

And she hadn't even _started_ thinking about the kids yet. They were going to need a _serious_ chat when he woke up.

Eventually she finished washing him. She dried him off and redressed him, just in time for Jack to reappear, running towards her with his arms waving frantically. "Rose! Rose! There's a plane!"

Rose was alert instantly, her breath caught in her throat. "What?"

"Overhead!" Jack pointed up in the sky. "We need to launch the flare!"

She looked up, for the first time noticing the sound of engines from an aircraft flying overhead; the little speck of flying metal in the sky. Rose couldn't believe it. In just a few hours they would be off the island... "Let's go!" she yelled, making to pick up the Doctor but thankfully Jack swooped in to take control before she put out her back. He slung the Time Lord over his shoulders and turned, already running to the cave where the flare was still in the bag the future Doctor had given them.

They ran as though they had deadly alien bears after them again. Every second that ticked away was their only escape and the Doctor's only chance of medical care disappearing slowly over the horizon.

They reached the cave, Jack hovering outside as Rose clambered in to grab the backpack, delving in and bringing out the flare. She quickly packed everything they'd left out into the bag and slung it over her shoulders, gripping the flare tightly in one hand and charging back out of the cave to meet Jack.

The sound of the aircraft overhead was beginning to quieten now, moving further and further away. They ran as fast as they could to a clear area to shoot the flare up but above them were only leaves and tree branches hanging over.

"We're gonna lose it!" Jack yelled, struggling to keep the Doctor on his shoulders.

And then the sound disappeared completely.

Rose and Jack stopped dead in their tracks, panting for air as they realised it was gone. Jack set the Doctor down on the floor, doubled over and getting his breath back. "We lost it," he panted.

Rose felt like screaming. A deep, primal scream of the utter unfairness of it all. That had been the Doctor's lifeline, and now it had gone. She sighed, and stood upright. "Maybe it'll come back," she said, not really positive of her words.

"Maybe," Jack replied quietly, and just from his tone alone she could tell he wasn't very positive either.

All the same, Jack picked up the Doctor again and together they began to make their way back to the beach.

Then suddenly, with no warning at all, the ground gave way beneath their feet. Rose squealed and Jack let out an undignified yet manly squeak as they both found themselves plummeting into as pit of utter blackness.

They both landed with a crash, mud falling off of the sides and crashing down onto their heads.

"Ugh, what the hell was that?" Rose groaned, rubbing her head and opening her eyes, finding herself staring at Jack and the Doctor who'd crashed down next to her.

Jack pushed himself to his knees, gazing up around their surroundings. The walls of the hole were smooth. In a square. Someone had intentionally made this...

"Trap," he muttered.

"What?" Rose asked. "But I thought we were the only..."

Then a face appeared, staring down at them from above. Then another, and another, and another... until there were at least thirteen people staring down, utterly intrigued.

"Umm... hi?" Rose asked, giving a nervous wave.

One of the people replied in a language that didn't resemble English in any shape or form whatsoever.

"Okay," Rose muttered, nervously scratching behind her ear. "This could be a problem."


	11. Awkward Silences

**A/N: **I have no idea what I'm writing anymore :-/ My fingers are typing and my brain isn't telling them to.

* * *

Chapter 11 - Awkward Silences

After the initial shock, the people who had suddenly appeared turned out to be quite friendly. They had helped them back out of the hole and a few had offered to take Rose's enormous backpack and the Doctor from Jack's arms, though he had of course refused until he knew exactly who these people were.

They were evidently Kailans, residents of the planet they were on. They had seen loads of them on the mainland - the dull green skin and third eye gave them away quite easily.

Despite the rather large language barrier between them, they were trying their hardest to communicate. Rose was achieving disjointed conversation with the elaborate waving of her arms and gestures that made her look and feel like a bit of a moron.

"Our friend," she was saying, gesturing to herself and Jack, then the Doctor. "He's hurt. Can you help him?"

The apparent leader stared at her for a moment, before grunting in some strange language and nodding, then pointing through the trees at something in the distance. Both Jack and Rose looked, but couldn't see anything particularly interesting. All the same, they decided to follow as the group led them through the trees and into, what looked like, a rather large village.

Both Jack and Rose were immediately blown away. It was truly amazing the sight of the village made purely from natural materials, stick huts and stone foundations. Some children were running around playing games in what seemed like a play park. There was some kind of stage across from them as well, as if performances took place.

But the thing that blew Rose away the most was how many people were here. About 25 adult Kailans were sat outside their huts, plus the 13 she and Jack were with, and around 8 children running around making a complete hullabaloo. How the hell had they missed this?

The Kailan leading their group yelled across the clearing, and suddenly every one of the village's residents turned to look at the arriving group, and then in turn Jack, Rose and the Doctor. The adults seemed surprised, and in contrast the children were plainly terrified, running to their mothers for protection.

An elderly Kailan appeared from one of the huts, took a moment to consider the scene before him and then advanced towards the group. The leader began talking to him, gesturing at the Doctor still in Jack's arms. A conversation took place, before the elderly Kailan finally nodded and beckoned them.

The leader turned to Jack and Rose, offering a smile. He pointed at the elder and mimed drawing something down the Doctor's chest. Jack and Rose exchanged a glance, trying in vain to understand what he was trying to say.

"I think that guy's a doctor," Rose finally concluded, her brow knitted. "A surgeon or somethin'?" She looked at Jack for confirmation, but he could only shrug.

The leader beckoned them as the elder had done, moving towards the tent. Jack and Rose exchanged a nod before following.

They emerged into a rather nicely decorated interior, but before they had the chance to admire anything the elder was clearing a space on the table and gestured for Jack to lay the Doctor down on it. Rather apprehensively Jack did so, before backing away, slightly tense.

The elder began talking to the leader, who nodded and began rummaging around the tent. The elder turned back to Jack and Rose, contemplating. He obviously needed to talk to them before he treated the Doctor but the language barrier was as thick as ever. Their only form of clear communication was in a coma a metre in front of them.

The elder pointed at the Doctor and shrugged, as if to say, "I can't treat him without knowing what's wrong". Rose's hopes were crashing down around her...

Then she had an idea. She held up a hand to the elder, before stepping forward and leaning down to whisper in the Doctor's ear two words that had helped her so much before.

"Help me."

The Doctor's eyes shot open within seconds, almost sitting up and headbutting her in the face but ended up jolting and crying out with pain halfway up, collapsing back down onto the table. He stared at her for a moment, and then gazed around their surroundings with a certain amount of confusion.

"What..."

"Doctor, we found these Kailans on the island," Rose began quickly. "This guy is a doctor and he can help you, but we can't talk to them."

The Doctor paused to consider this, before his eyes averted to the elder standing beside him, quite obviously intrigued by what he was witnessing. The Doctor began to talk to him in the Kailan language, his voice still quite weak but considerably better than before. For a couple of minutes they conversed until the Doctor finally turned his head back to Rose, giving a weak smile.

"Told him what was wrong," he said. "He's a doctor and surgeon of xenobiology, so whatever he does, just let him do it."

Both Jack and Rose gaped at him. "How is he a...?"

"Later," the Doctor muttered closing his eyes and very quickly sinking deep into oblivion.

Then surgery began. It very quickly became apparent that the Doctor was going to get cut open. Rose decided she didn't particularly want to see his insides, so she quickly made excuses and went out for some fresh air. Jack decided to stay and observe, watching the way the elder worked with such confidence and professionalism and trying desperately to work things out.

Even though the tools the elder was using were quite makeshift, Jack could see the method in his approach. Fish ribs instead of a needles sterilised by being held over a burning fire, the use of the Doctor's own hair for thread to repair arteries.

But then the elder began the _real_ surgery. Jack chose not to look directly when he cut into the Doctor, but quite clearly saw the removal of a kidney and part of the liver with the leader's help.

It took hours, but eventually it seemed as though it was drawing into a close, with the elder stitching up all the layers he'd cut through and cleaning up.

* * *

The Doctor woke up, and as per usual pain instantly hit him.

It was dark, and he seemed to be in some kind of hut, lying on a bed made purely from natural materials. He figured out quickly that he was probably in the same place he'd woken up before, but where were Jack and Rose?

He thought about sitting up, maybe even getting up, but after a moment concluded that wouldn't be very wise. Lifting his head to meet more aches and pains of his almost completely wrecked body he saw a long incision down his torso, sutured up with his own hair. Major surgery. He remembered now. There was definitely no profit in moving from that spot.

He was stuck here.

A few silent minutes passed. He tried entertaining himself by playing games in his head, but I Spy was somewhat problematic in the dark when he couldn't move his head and it was only him playing. Reciting pi got a little boring at the 600th digit. Trying to work out the skasis paradigm wasn't much fun either. He tried to drift off, but now he'd woken up he couldn't get back to sleep.

He was bored.

"Rose?" he wailed to the ceiling. "Jack?"

Thankfully within seconds the flap of the hut opened and Rose stepped through, illuminated by moonlight. A smile at seeing him awake instantly spread across her face and she quickly rushed over to him, taking a seat on the bed.

"How are you doin'?" she asked gently.

"Bored," he replied. "Entertain me."

Rose's eyes widened. "Do what now?"

Instantly the Doctor realised that what he'd said had sounded a little more than dirty. "What? No, err… I didn't mean that."

And then he said something which he would forever blame on blood loss for the rest of his living days.

"Not yet, anyway."

He could've punched himself in the face.

There was a slight pause, before Rose suddenly let go a nervous laugh, as did he, after which they both cleared their throats and looked awkwardly away. A subject change was needed, desperately.

"How long was I out?" he asked.

"About ten hours," she replied. Another awkward silence.

"… And we're still in that place?"

"Yep," she said, popping the p.

Silence.

"Doctor," Rose suddenly began, staring down at him. "We need to talk..."

The Doctor remained silent, staring at her as a prompt to go on. He anticipated what was coming, but what she actually said was quite surprising.

"Your future self appeared."

He stared at her, confused. "What? When?"

"After you went into a coma," she said, and then took a deep breath as she began to explain every detail of the future Doctor's visit, right down to the backpack, the kids, and the Cheeky Girls. When she had finished there was another momentary silence before he finally found the words to speak in a quiet croak.

"... Does that sound like twins to you too?"

* * *

**A/N: **Are you still hoping for some TenRose? You won't find it here. No. Not a nugget. Nothing going on here. Nothing to see. Walk on.


	12. Jack Jr

Chapter 12 – Jack Jr.

Jack found Rose hovering outside the Doctor's hut, looking very preoccupied with her own thoughts. As he advanced she noticed him, offering a brief smile.

"I told him about… You know," she finished lamely.

He rested a supportive hand on her shoulder. "How he take it?"

She pulled a face. "Asked to be left alone."

Jack winced. That was probably the worst reaction possible. "Well, he's thinking about it. That's good."

"Hmm, yeah," Rose replied, not sounding completely convinced.

"And if he still 'needs to think about it' when he's better then I'll kick some sense into him."

Rose laughed, moving in to hug the ex-Time Agent. "Thanks."

* * *

"Come on, Rose! Push!" the Doctor was yelling.

"I _am _pushing!" Rose screamed back, absolutely red with exertion as she panted and pushed her way through.

"I see a head!" the midwife said confidently. "It's coming!"

The Doctor held onto Rose's hand at the head of the bed, staring between the V of her legs to where the midwife was staring intently at the new little person emerging from within his wife.

"One more push!" the midwife encouraged, cuing a rather bloodcurdling scream from Rose as her grip on the Doctor's hand tightened to bone-crushing point.

Then suddenly there was a new sound, the sound of a newborn crying baby crying its little lungs out.

"It's a boy!" the midwife exclaimed, lifting an infant high up in the air, who was covered in a strange substance the Doctor did not care to name. But it didn't matter, because this was his son. His purple, wrinkly, screaming newborn son taking the first gasp of air to his little lungs.

The midwife looked at the Doctor. "Do you want to hold him?"

The Doctor swallowed. This was it. This was his Lion King moment. He reached for the child, his eyes shining with tears of joy...

"Well you can't have him!" the midwife suddenly yelled and the Doctor reeled in surprise, even more so when the midwife took off her mask to reveal the familiar face of Jackie Tyler beneath.

"Jackie?" he gasped, utterly confused. "What?"

"Who are you kidding, Doctor?" Jackie was saying, staring at him with a look of utter sincerity. "You can't look after a child!"

The Doctor's jaw dropped, looking to Rose for support but she was staring at him too, with sad brown eyes. "He'll die if he stays with you," she said quietly.

"What?" the Doctor repeated, feeling as though he'd been punched in the face as he stared between mother and daughter in utter shock and disbelief.

"Your life is bloody dangerous!" Jackie reminded him.

"Yeah, but... I'll look after him," the Doctor heard himself croak.

"From all those monsters?" Jackie asked, unconvinced.

"He'll be born with a thousand enemies," Rose continued.

"Could you seriously bring yourself to put your son in danger like that?" Jackie asked, tapping her foot.

"He won't be in danger..." Tears were running down his face. "I'll..."

"Everyone close to you dies," Rose said.

"You can't save everyone, Doctor," Jackie said next.

"Never the ones you love," Rose whispered.

"And he's so small..."

"Defenceless..."

"You take your eyes off for one second..."

"And he'll just be another victim."

"Another gravestone written by you."

"And so will I," Rose completed.

"No, please..." The Doctor could feel the blackness of utter misery and despair wrapping itself around him as Jackie and Rose seemed to be getting further and further away...

"For his own protection, Doctor..."

"You have to say he's not yours," Jackie said sternly.

"But..."

"Say it!"

"But he's..."

"He's not yours, Doctor," Jackie said.

"He's not yours, Doctor," Rose said.

"I didn't want it to be like this!" the Doctor yelled, but they were repeating the phrase over and over again between them, getting closer and closer to him as he tried in vain to back away...

"He's not yours... He's not yours... He's not yours..."

It was all was too much. He couldn't take it anymore as all his emotions built into a crescendo...

"He's not mine!" he yelled, and suddenly both Jackie and Rose were smiling. The door opened and the Doctor spun around to find Jack standing in the doorway, grinning from ear-to-ear.

"That's right, he's mine now," Jack said, striding forward towards the child. "Get out the way, would you?" he said rudely, shoving the Doctor aside. "That's my son over there."

"Leave, Doctor," Jackie said coldly as Jack fawned over the new baby boy.

"Leave now," Rose said with the same cold, hard voice.

"And never come back."

Then suddenly they seemed to forget he was there, and looked away towards the new baby boy, Jack holding him in his arms.

"Oh he's so beautiful," Jack said, smiling happily. "Shame he isn't mine."

"Oh we don't talk about his father," Rose said, smiling sweetly as she ran her finger down the infant's cheek. "He's a bad person."

The baby burst into tears, and Jack quickly soothed him with whispers of comfort. "That's it, calm down. Can we call him Jack Junior?"

"No!" the Doctor yelled, throwing out his hand towards his son, but the world was changing and warping around him. A door was suddenly placed before him and he quickly turned the handle, slipping through just to escape but emerged in Jackie Tyler's flat, exactly how he remembered it.

"Who are you?" asked a voice from below and he looked down to see a little boy, a toddler, locks of brown hair and deep brown eyes that eerily reflected his own.

"I'm your Daddy," the Doctor replied quietly.

The boy looked shocked and began to back away, running into the next room screaming, "Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!"

"What's wrong, Jack Junior?" asked the voice of Jack and seconds later the man himself walked out of the door, carrying the little boy. Then he saw the Doctor, and his eyes widened. "You!"

"Jack..." the Doctor began, but Jack wasn't listening.

"Get out! Get out now!" he yelled, frantically waving at the door.

"But..."

"Leave my house!"

"Why?" the Doctor demanded to know, suddenly angry. "He's my son!"

"You said he wasn't," Rose was suddenly standing in front of him, staring unwaveringly into his eyes.

"But..." the Doctor began in protest, though he didn't get very far.

"Get out of here now!"

"Why?"

"You're gonna kill us all!" Rose screamed, lifting her hand and pointing behind the Doctor. He whirled around to find suddenly hundreds of Daleks, Cybermen, Silurians, Sontarans and Zygons moving ominously towards him... But they weren't going for him.

"EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!"

"DELETE! DELETE!"

"NO!" the Doctor yelled as they moved right past him and attacked Jack, Rose, and his little boy...

Everything went dark, and then he could see his son lying unmoving on the floor in front of him. He ran forward and cradled the boy in his arms, tears pouring down his face...

"Wake up," he whispered, pleaded the lifeless boy in his arms. "Please..."

He didn't.

His son was dead.

"This is your fault," Rose whispered, and he looked up to find Rose, Jack and Jackie standing above him, bullet holes in their chests, blood pouring from wounds of lacerations over every inch of their bodies. "You killed him. You killed me."

"You killed me," Jack said.

"You killed me," Jackie said.

"You killed us all," they said in sync.

"I didn't, I swear!" the Doctor yelled, his tears dripping onto his son's face. "I didn't mean to..."

"Murderer!" Jackie hissed, fire burning in her eyes with an evil smile on her lips. "Murderer!" Then Jack and Rose were joining in too, moving closer and closer, hissing that word... "Murderer! Murderer! Murderer! Murderer!"

"No! I'm not a murderer!"

"Murderer! Murderer! Murderer!"

"I didn't kill him!"

"Murderer! Murderer! Murderer!"

"I'm not!"

"And what do we do with murderers?" Jack asked the other two, still smiling that evil smile.

"We eat them!" Jackie screeched in delight, drawing out a carving knife from inside her jacket.

"I'll have a leg," Rose said, drawing out her own knife.

"Brain for me," Jack said as they started forwards again, knives in their hands...

"Murderer! Murderer! Murderer!"

"No! Please!"

"MURDERER!"

"Doctor…"

The Doctor suddenly realised was Rose staring down at him, stroking her hand over his cheek. "You've got an infection," she said gently. "You're very hot."

Suddenly the Doctor felt very relieved, okay so he had an infection, but it had been a hallucination. That was all. A hallucination through the fever.

"Here," she said, feeding him some strange gooey substance with her fingers. "I dunno what this is but the alien guy made it for you."

"Rose," he began in a whisper, swallowing the goo. Just by taste he could tell it was a sedative analgesic made from some kind of flower. "The kids…"

"Not now," she said, making sure he'd swallowed. "When you get better, yeah?"

"But…"

"Go to sleep."

"Rose, please…"

"Doctor, I don't wanna hear about it at the moment, okay?" she suddenly said sternly. "Not till you're actually capable of doin' what you need to do to have them." He suddenly turned extremely red, but if she noticed she chose not to point it out. "Now go to sleep. You need to get better."

He nodded, finally conceding and lying back, staring up at the ceiling. "Just one thing. Please don't call our son Jack Junior."

Rose giggled. "Wouldn't dream of it."

* * *

**A/N: **I now officially have no idea what's going to happen, or what infact is happening. It's just one spur of the moment after the other. Oh well! :D


	13. How To Lose A Girl In 5 Minutes

Chapter 13 - How To Lose A Girl In 5 Minutes

It had been four days since the Doctor's surgery and the Time Lord remained in stupor throughout. His infection had been quickly treated and had now practically vanished - but his other injuries had not. He'd been on liquids only since the surgery, which was a fact that ended up breaking Rose's heart when in the first few days he couldn't even muster enough strength to complain at the fact she'd been force feeding him water and black goo for four days straight.

As much as she and Jack were trying to distract themselves with catering to the Doctor's needs, both humans knew that the bigger picture was progressively getting larger and more dangerous with every passing second. They were stuck on an island in the middle of an ocean on an alien planet with no TARDIS, no Doctor, and no one who spoke a word of English. To top it all off the nightly Siren song had not relented, in fact, it had only become worse. Jack was becoming more and more violent with every passing night, though Rose felt a little bit more relaxed since it was happening to all the male Kailans, and they had a special secure holding place for them when the song took effect.

The Kailans had been nothing but helpful since day one, prioritising Jack and Rose's comfort and the Doctor's health over their own convenience at times. Even though communication was still very hard they tried their best and managed to have short conversations, which was better than nothing at least.

On the fourth morning Rose went into the Doctor's hut ready to give him his usual plain, unchanging diet of water and mush, finding him lying awake and staring at the ceiling deep in thought.

"Hey," she said gently. He snapped his head up, looking at her with wide eyes. He wasn't smiling. Rose was instantly concerned, sitting next to him on the bed. "What's wrong?"

"We need to talk," he said instantly, moving to prop himself up on one elbow and consequently wincing every centimetre of the way.

"I told you, not till..."

"No," he said firmly, still not a hint of a smile appearing on his lips. "Now. We need to talk now."

Rose was suddenly very, very nervous. If that was how the conversation of having kids in the future with him had started then she wasn't feeling too positive about it. "Okay," she said, putting down the bowl of goo and cup of water on the floor by her feet. "Let's discuss."

She tried to look into his eyes, but his were filled with raw emotions she couldn't even place. Anger? Was he angry?

"Rose..." he began, obviously fighting some kind of internal battle with himself as his fists were clenched, his muscles tensed. "... Maybe we shouldn't have kids."

"What?"

"I live dangerously. _We _live dangerously. Too dangerously. It's not safe for a child in any shape or form."

"And?" Rose asked, genuinely confused. "We won't be wavin' them purposely in front of the Daleks."

"But that's just it, don't you see?" He looked on the verge of crying. "We can't watch them all the time..."

"But..."

"Look, I know you want kids, but... maybe it shouldn't be with me. They'll be..." He swallowed, the hallucination hitting home with an almighty crash. "They'll be born with a thousand enemies."

Rose stayed silent, looking down at the covers and twiddling with her thumbs. The Doctor continued, forcing himself to get the words out before he ended up choking on his own tears.

"I mean, look at our situation. We tried to go on holiday for a break and somehow our boat had managed to sink, you nearly died of hypothermia, Jack's died twice and I've been thrown around by some seriously angry bears and needed my body parts sown back on. Now put a child in the middle of that and tell me what happens to him."

The Doctor could see she was trying _so_ hard not to cry. It was breaking his hearts.

"Please, please understand me," he whispered, cupping her cheek. "I love you, but I can't love you. I can't have children with you. I can't be with you. I'm really sorry. Please don't cry."

Rose didn't say a word.

"When we get back to the TARDIS I'll take you home," he continued. "You can rekindle your relationship with Mickey. I'll do anything to make it happen. Whatever you need. Then I'll leave you alone forever."

There was another long pause. The Doctor didn't know what else to say, but he also didn't know whether he should hug her or not. For a moment he just watched her, hunched over and sobbing before he finally resigned to himself and shuffled forward to hold her.

"... I don't want Mickey," she finally whispered. "I want you."

"I can't be with you... For _so _many reasons. It's just not logical."

Rose suddenly drew back, staring at him. "Logical? It's not logical? You can't do it because it's not logical? Why the hell should that matter?"

The Doctor blinked, shocked at her sudden change of demeanour. "I..."

"If you loved me that wouldn't matter!" she yelled, annoyed. "You think you can just cast me off to Mickey? You just want to get rid of me!"

"No!" the Doctor said quickly, grabbing onto her arm. "It's not like that..."

"Get off of me!" Rose snapped, yanking her arm away and jumping onto her feet, storming straight out the door without another word.

He didn't know how long he stared at the flap of the hut door, completely paralysed. He wanted to get up and run after her, but he couldn't, both physically _and _mentally. She thought he didn't love her...

But... maybe that was for the best. She'd readily leave him this way.

Suddenly the flap of material of the hut flew open and he looked up - but it was Jack. He was looking fairly annoyed.

"How is she?" the Doctor quickly asked before Jack could say a word.

Jack grimaced. "She just spent twenty minutes crying into my chest."

"Oh no..." the Doctor breathed, burying his head in his hands.

"Obviously you're in a delicate emotional state so I'll be sensitive," Jack said sarcastically, moving forward to stand over the Doctor, his arms folded. "You're a bastard."

"I had to," the Doctor began in protest. "I can't go through with it."

"Why not?" Jack demanded. "Did that guy cut out a bit of your brain as well? Because you're not thinking straight."

"I don't need your judgement," the Doctor spat, suddenly angry himself. "I did the right thing!"

"For who?" Jack yelled back.

"For my children!"

"Who don't exist!"

"And they never will!" the Doctor screamed back, completely red in the face. "Don't you dare tell me I did the wrong thing!"

"You did the wrong thing!"

"Shut up!" the Doctor retorted, feeling just about ready to punch Jack in the face. "Just shut up! I don't need this from you!"

And with that he threw back the blanket covering him and got out of bed. Jack's emotional state instantly went from anger to horror as the Doctor found he still couldn't walk properly, sharp agony shooting right up both legs before he screamed and collapsed to the floor spasming slightly. Jack dived forward to help him, but the Doctor quickly hit him away.

"Get off!" the Time Lord yelled, tears pouring down his face. "Get off of me!"

"Doctor," Jack said calmly, and eventually the Doctor stopped struggling, though tears were still pouring down his face. "Let me help you."

Finally the Doctor nodded, allowing Jack to grab him around the middle and pull him up back onto the bed.

"That was stupid," Jack said with a laugh as he settled the Time Lord back down again. There was a momentary pause before he looked back at the Doctor. "Don't take her back home," he said seriously. "You need her. That wouldn't have happened if she'd been here."

The Doctor stared down at the covers. "She deserves happiness. She wants kids. She wants a future I can't give her."

"Have you been thinking about _your_ future if you do drop her back home at all?" Jack wondered.

"I'll be all right," the Doctor replied quietly.

"You know what I see? A sad lonely Time Lord sitting on his own in the TARDIS sitting room drinking himself to death watching daytime TV."

The Doctor stared at him. "I don't think so, Jack."

Jack waved an uncaring hand. "Say what you like. But it _will_ happen."

"Really," the Doctor said seriously. "No."

Jack sighed, leaning forward and clapping his hands together. "Let me tell you about your future. You're going to drop her off at home, you won't be able to face Mickey and Jackie so you'll leave quickly. You'll take a vow never to go back to London again. You'll still think she's in the TARDIS for a few days, calling out her name and making her breakfast. But she won't be there. You'll be in denial for a while, but within weeks it'll hit you just what happened. You'll think that maybe you didn't say good bye in the right way. You'll create more and more fabricated untruths about all the times you had together. You'll begin to wonder whether she actually liked you at all, and that maybe she was just faking it all this time.

"You're going to miss her so much, wondering about the life you could've had. Wondering if she ever thinks about you, if she ever misses you. You'll be thinking about how you could've worked out everything, and you'll curse your stupidity. Inside you'll be telling yourself you did the right thing, but you'll know it's a lie. You'll want so much to see her again, but you'll know you can't, because you think you'll see how happy she is, and all the kids she has, and that maybe she won't even remember who you are. Though you're angry at her you'll target your friends with it, you'll reject them and cast them off because you think you're better off alone. With no friends and no Rose you'll lose the motivation to go on. Then you can guess the rest."

The Doctor was staring at him again. "That's not going to happen."

"Fair enough," Jack said, getting to his feet with a grunt. "Just an opinion. Get some sleep," he said, then started towards the exit, hands in pockets, singing quietly to himself. "Neeeear... Faaar... Whereveeer you aaare! I beliiieve that the heart does... go ooooon!"

The Doctor watched him go, very shaken by what Jack had said. Quickly he dismissed it. He'd made the right choice.

Hadn't he?

* * *

**A/N:** (siiiigh) Men.


	14. Spraying Of Hormones

Chapter 14 - Spraying Of Hormones

The Doctor had arranged a meeting with the Kailan elder when he felt like moving so they could fill in a bit of backstory on this place. Jack and Rose had come along too, purely out of intrigue, but the latter seemed to be taking every step possible to avoid looking or speaking to the Time Lord.

It hurt him in many ways.

Finally they were all sat down outside in the twin suns of yet another picture perfect day on the island, the Doctor's first actual trip outside of his hut for a week since the major surgery - and three days since his conversation with Rose. Three days, and they hadn't exchanged a word, a look, or even a smile.

But now she was sat on the other side of Jack, finding everything else fascinating to stare at but him. Her body language told the Doctor she didn't want to be there; perhaps dragged by Jack. She was curled in on herself, head in her hands, sunglasses on, giving out all the negative body signals.

He didn't want it to be like this.

He went on with the meeting regardless. Jack and Rose watched as the Doctor and the Elder exchanged in that strange language, the Doctor's eyebrows getting progressively higher and higher on his forehead until he finally turned to Jack and Rose, translating what the Elder had said.

"He's a fully qualified doctor and surgeon of xenobiology back on the mainland, with plenty of experience. You know that cave painting we found? That was some people in his group. He's one of the originals that washed up here; he's the last one of that group still alive."

"But I thought the cave paintings were recent?" Jack asked, confused.

"Kailans have a limited lifespan," the Doctor explained. "Less than humans."

"But what about the paintings?" Jack asked. "They didn't come back?"

"One sec," the Doctor said, turning back to the Elder and striking up the conversation again. A bit later and the Doctor turned back to them.

"He doesn't know. He woke up on the beach with one of the men and two women, one of those women were already pregnant. They decided since they weren't getting off the island they might as well make a life here, and…" He gestured to their surroundings. "Result."

"Are we the only people they've seen here?" Rose suddenly asked. Even though her head was in his direction the Doctor still couldn't tell if she was looking at him behind the sunglasses.

He offered her a smile anyway. "I'll ask," he said, then resumed conversation, before looking back at them. "A few tourists and Kailans have washed up here, they've tried to help but they're all usually dying or dead so they give them a funeral. We're the only survivors he's seen."

"Dead or dying from what?" Jack wondered.

"Some Leviathans had a go at them," came the answer after a few moments. "Some killed by Widowmakers, some just having crashed into the rocks and drowned…"

Suddenly the Elder began to speak again and the Doctor looked up, listening intently. Then he went quite, quite pale.

"… And some with memory loss and head trauma wander into camp in a state of delusion, dying of heart failure days later," he finished.

"… That's specific," Jack muttered.

"Hmm," was all the Doctor replied to that.

* * *

The Doctor was laid back on the bed in his hut, once again staring up at the ceiling absorbed in thought. He knew he should probably be thinking about some kind of plan to get off of the island, but all he could think about was Rose. At first the Doctor was hurt she was seemingly avoiding him, but then he was a little annoyed.

_'You told her your reasons,'_ he kept thinking over and over to himself. _'Very good, reasons, too. Logical reasons. You're forward thinking. She isn't. You're just trying to save the lives of children who aren't going to be born.'_

Exactly. He was in the right. She was in the wrong.

Then he was past the annoyed stage, and now he was just angry. It wasn't some kind of contract clause that when he took on companions that he had to go to bed with them and make children, no arguments. She seemed to be acting like it was. She didn't have the right. She was being selfish and unreasonable. If he didn't want kids, then couldn't she at least try and respect that?

_'But you DO want kids...'_

No, he couldn't. He didn't want relationship, either.

_'But you DO want a relationship...'_

The Time War. He couldn't go through with losing his family again.  
_  
'You're so much more intelligent now.'_

And marriage? Urgh. That was so human it made him sick.

_'She'd look amazing in a wedding dress...'_

She wasn't beautiful. He wasn't attracted to her. Not in the slightest.

_'Liar.'_

Okay, fair enough. But he could control his emotions. He'd been doing it for hundreds of years.

_'So you're going to say this has been a bit of a blip in the track record?'_

He was a completely emotional and hormone-free zone.

_'So what have you been doing for the past couple of weeks if not spraying your hormones everywhere?'_

It wasn't even a very good kiss.

_'Liar.'_

And he definitely didn't want sex.  
_  
'Hahahaha!'_

"Shut up, conscience!" the Doctor yelled, banging his head against the headboard.

"Talking to yourself?" Jack's voice suddenly said and he looked up to find him standing in the doorway. "First sign of madness."

"Just thinking," he muttered, not looking Jack in the eye. "Have you seen Rose?"

Jack nodded. "She's avoiding you, by the way."

The Doctor groaned, putting his head in his hands. "She hates me, doesn't she."

Jack considered for a moment, his face going through a myriad of expressions before he finally answered. "Yes."

"I don't understand! I told her all my reasons."

"Not very good reasons," Jack muttered quietly to himself.

"What?"

"Nothing," he answered quickly.

"This isn't exactly easy for me!" the Doctor insisted. "Believe me... I want..." he paused, stopped himself, and then restarted. "... I just can't have what I want."

"Why?" Jack asked seriously. "What's so scary?"

"Because..." The Doctor ran his hands through his hair, staring unseeingly at the far wall. "They're just going to die and I'll be on my own again."

Jack stared at him. "That's pretty warped logic."

The Doctor looked at him, surprised. "What?"

"Nothing," he said again, and then raised a grin. "I have your breakfast!" he announced, and raised the bowls in his hands.

"Jack," the Doctor said seriously, lowly.

Jack lowered the bowls again, and took a breath. "Just seems like you're thinking about this like a school science project; weighing up the pros and cons and margins of error. You're stopping these kids from being born because you think they'll just die within minutes. You're not giving them a chance to live. That's not right."

"Well you're wrong."

Jack sighed. "Breakfast?" he proposed again.

The Doctor felt annoyed. "Don't change the subject!"

Jack stared at him. "If you're looking for someone to agree with you then it's not gonna be me, okay? I'll be honest - I've always admired you, who you are, what you've stood for, but now it's like one bullet you couldn't dodge and you're down. This isn't like you."

The Doctor paused, staring at the covers. "... What do you know, stupid ape."

Jack stared at him for a moment, giving the Doctor just enough time to process what he'd just said before he turned and left the hut.

"No, wait, Jack! I'm sorry!" the Doctor yelled, but it was too late. He sighed despairingly, falling back down onto the pillows and closing his eyes.

Maybe Jack was right.

Maybe this wasn't like him.

What was he supposed to do?

His eyes suddenly shot back open at the sound of someone coming in. To his complete surprise, when he lifted his head he found it was Rose.

"Hello," he said.

"Hello," she replied, not even looking at him as she moved forward with the bowls Jack had previously held in her hands.

"I thought you hated me," he said quietly.

"I don't hate you," she assured him as she set the bowls down on his lap. "I just can't look at you right now."

"Am I being unreasonable?" he asked, genuinely confused.

"No, it's not that," she muttered with a sigh, brushing her hair back from her forehead.

"Then what?"

"It doesn't matter." She turned to leave.

"Rose," he said quickly. "Please tell me."

She stopped, her shoulders dropping. Silent seconds passed before she turned and for the first time she looked him straight in the eye.

"I wouldn't have minded if you just said you weren't ready for kids yet, or that you wanted to take things slowly, or that you needed some time to work things out, yeah? But instead you just... cut me off. You think that's fair? After everything before? You said you loved me, you kissed me, then you find out that your future self had kids with me and now you're freakin' out. I get that, yeah, it freaks me out too, but now you're just runnin' away."

"I'm not..." he began in protest, but she was on a role.

"I dunno what happened in the Time War, I can't even begin to imagine. But I know you. I've thought about this a lot, and I think after you lost everythin' in the Time War you got scared of letting people close to you, and you sealed yourself off in a little bubble because you think that anyone you breathe on is gonna die. You think that because of what happened you don't deserve happiness. I think I was the first person you had more than one conversation with since the Time War, yeah?"

The Doctor stared at her, nodding almost imperceptibly.

"I dunno why you let me into your bubble but I must have been something special to you. I got you out of that bubble, enough to let you say you love me. Then suddenly everything's backfired with all this stuff that's bein' thrown at you, and you can't handle it. You're panickin', runnin' straight back to that bubble because you were there for so long that it's the place you run when you get scared."

"I'm not sca..."

She suddenly laughed. "Yeah, you are. You're terrified just like me. You've been pushin' people away from you for so long that you don't even know how to handle somethin' like this. You've been so busy trying to, I dunno, alleviate your guilt trip or somethin' in some kinda altruistic way that you don't know how to make yourself happy anymore. Which is why you need to stop runnin' and just breathe a sec. Don't think about me, or the kids, or Jack, or anyone else. What do _you _want?"

The Doctor's mouth felt insanely dry. Everything... how could a little human have known that much about him? Every single syllable from her mouth had been accurate to 100 percent.

He continued to stare at her, swallowing a few times before he opened his mouth to reply.

"I don't want a relationship."

One stab in his hearts.

"I don't want to get married."

Two.

"I don't want to have kids."

Three.

Silence.

Rose looked on the edge of bursting into tears. "Okay," she practically squeaked, and quite quickly left.

That was it. It was over. He'd severed all his ties.

As long as she was happy, that was all that mattered.

Because she was right. He knew he didn't deserve it.


	15. PMT

**A/N: **I really have nothing interesting to put here, so I'll hum a tune.

Dooby do-do do, do do, do da-da-da-da!

Fin.

* * *

Chapter 15 – PMT

The Doctor was becoming increasingly more and more agitated with life in general. He'd gone through the backpack his future self had given them only to find out his future self had found giving them a can of whipped cream to be an essential, yet a pair of trousers for him somehow wasn't. He was annoyed at his future self, annoyed at Rose, annoyed at Jack and annoyed at himself for being annoyed at everyone and everything. Not to mention the fact he was annoyed at being annoyed, plus his annoyance about being annoyed he was annoyed was getting pretty annoying. Which just made him annoyed, frankly. If he was a woman, he was pretty sure this would be classed as PMT.

Eventually he found some swimming trunks at the bottom of the backpack, which he guessed was better than nothing, so he pulled them on before breathing a sigh of relief. For the first time in quite a few weeks he felt like finally his genitals were getting the adequate incubation they needed.

"What're you doing?" asked a voice from behind him. It was Jack.

"Going for a walk," the Doctor replied simply, already moving towards the door.

"You don't want breakfast?" Jack wondered, holding out the bowls. The Doctor grabbed it and wolfed it down quickly before starting towards the door again.

"Don't follow me. I'll be back later."

* * *

He didn't know how far he walked but it would never be far enough. When he eventually tired he found a nice little spot by a spring and sat down crossed leg next to it, trying to think about anything but Rose.

It wasn't working.

She had been right, of course. She was always right. He was pushing her away, not even deliberately, but in the long run she would be happier if she left him for that. She wanted a nice little stable life with kids and a wedding ring and a mortgage and he just couldn't give it to her.

He _was _scared. Terrified. Maybe, eventually, if this kid stuff hadn't been thrown at him like a big red dodgeball then he and Rose would have eventually had children, but now it was like some kind of unrelenting fate marching towards him like the hordes of Genghis Khan… And he was rebelling.

Then he realised that something was poking into his thigh. He looked down, for the first time realising he had pockets. He dug about inside his right pocket for a moment, hand clasping onto something and pulling it out. It was an envelope, addressed to him by hand. That was Rose's writing.

Did he want to read it?

Then he realised – where would she find paper? There was no paper around here. He couldn't envision his future self packing it, either. That was intriguing.

Then he realised the smell. It smelt of the vortex. This letter had come from the TARDIS. The future?

Now he _really _didn't want to read it.

But the curiosity was overwhelming…. He prised it open and pulled out a slip of paper, opening it. A folded piece of paper dropped out but he left it for the moment, reading the letter.

_Dear Doctor,_

_It's Rose, from the future. I know I shouldn't do this because of all that timeline stuff, but I know you're in a bad place around about the time you'll read this and I want to help you make a decision. _

_I'm 23 years old, I'm married and pair bonded to your future self. We have two kids, twins, a boy and girl named Kai and Emma. They both have your eyes and brown hair, though Kai's is straight and Emma's is curly. They're both very intelligent. Kai loves watching you fix the TARDIS and Emma's always putting on music and dancing performances for us. My Mum - your mother-in-law - loves them and even loves you a bit too. Don't make that face!_

_Jack's with us too, he's like a nanny, and he's brilliant. It took him a few tries to change a nappy but he got the hang of it eventually. We all live in the TARDIS together, and we still go off around the Universe saving planets and people. A couple of times Kai and Emma have been in danger but never for very long, because you never let them be. They've never been hurt. Usually Emma's the one comforting ME after they've been in danger!_

_Wherever we go people are always giving them presents, so they kind of expect it now. We met the Daleks again and Kai got a bit annoyed he didn't get a present from them. But I'd better not write any more about that..._

_I just want you to know these things before you dismiss it. I'm really happy, you're really happy, and we have an amazing life together. I never found it what those doubts you had were, but you don't seem to be affected by them anymore._

_I know you'll make the right decision for your future and mine. I love you, and I have always loved you. Please think about this. I'll respect you whatever you decide._

_Rose x_

_PS: Emma came in while I doing this and insisted on drawing a picture for you. _

He picked up the slip of paper that had fallen out, and opened it up. It was obviously a child's drawing, and like the most corny cliché ever it was a drawing of the occupants of the TARDIS. A blue box was on the left, with a big arrow pointed towards it saying 'TARDIS'. Next to the TARDIS there was a tall stick man with brown hair, 'Daddy'; holding the hand of a shorter stick woman with blonde hair, 'Mummy'. Next to them were two short brown haired stick figures, 'Me' and 'Kai (not important)', with 'Uncle Jack' stood next to them. Then on the far right, there was a big messy green blob with the obligatory explanation, 'evil monster'.

He was welling up. A perfect drawing done by the hands of a little girl he was fighting against having. This just made it all come crashing home. What was he _doing?_ He'd made a mistake. He realised that, now. What gave him the right to choose whether to give this child a life? Nothing. Nothing at all. Jack had been right. He had to talk to Rose, sort this out...

He put the letter and drawing back in his pocket before pushing himself onto both feet. Suddenly he swayed, a little dizzy. Been sitting down for too long. He righted himself and quickly made his way back to the Kailan camp. He could only hope Rose would talk to him...

Though he was feeling quite nauseous, and had to stop to lean on a tree halfway back to try and pull himself together. Then he threw up. He _never _threw up. What...

Then he realised what had happened. He'd unintentionally overdosed on the plant seed Jack had given him earlier. The opioid analgesic. He took too much too quickly. How could he have been so _stupid? _He'd overdosed and no one was around...

He had to get back to camp. His body was trying to counter the effects of the overdose but his breathing was already laboured. He was in trouble, _big_ trouble.

He tried yelling for help but nothing but his own voice echoed back to him. He staggered through the woodland with one hand on his chest, trying not to panic - if he regulated his breathing and made sure he got enough oxygen then he wouldn't pass out.

He must've managed about twenty metres before he threw up again, then another five before he collapsed.

* * *

"The Doctor's not back yet."

The suns were setting on yet another perfect day in the twisted paradise and the Doctor had been gone for the entire day. At first Jack thought he just wanted some fresh air and some time to clear his head without outside interruption, but now he was getting slightly worried. He was still healing and wouldn't have the strength to walk aimlessly around for this long.

"Probably got lost," Rose said, munching on a piece of Kailan prepared food. She didn't know the specifics of where the meat had come from, but it tasted nice and she didn't particularly want to ruin her dinner by finding out.

"He doesn't get lost," Jack muttered. "He's like a homing missile."

Rose suddenly looked at him, wide-eyed. "D'you think… somethin' happened to him?"

Jack couldn't help but smile. Despite the fact she was talking about a man who had only a day ago ripped out her heart, torn it in two and shoved it back in again, she still cared.

"Nah," he said, sure of himself. "I'll bet he's fine. Probably took a detour."

The silence resumed.

"… Maybe we should look for him," Rose suggested quietly.

"Maybe."

Another pause.

"He's probably fine," Rose said, fobbing it off with a casual wave of her hand.

"Yeah," Jack concluded, pulling a grin.

Another pause. Jack shifted uncomfortably. Rose bit her lip.

"I'm gonna look for him," she suddenly said, standing up.

"Me too," Jack agree, jumping onto his feet beside her.

* * *

Rose knew she should be angry with him for everything he'd put her through. She should feel nothing but resentment for the Time Lord and shouldn't particularly care about whether he was in trouble or not.

But she still loved him for some insane reason she couldn't quite gauge.

Asides from that, he was still a person. Despite everything there was nothing in the Universe that could make her wish death by angry bear on him. Before they had come to Kaila when everything was normal he had been a beautiful person. He still was. He just didn't do domestics in the beautiful way he did everything else.

Time passed quickly. Soon Rose knew Jack would turn, so they had to start thinking about getting back to camp – but there was this feeling in the pit of her stomach like something wasn't quite right. She voiced her concerns to Jack, who stared at her a little blankly, but didn't comment.

"Maybe he's already back at camp?" Jack suggested ten minutes later. "We probably missed him coming back."

"I don't think so," Rose said weakly. "Just five more minutes. Please."

Jack sighed. "Okay, five minutes."

It was lucky for her she found him pretty soon after that.

"JACK!" she shrieked, her heart in her throat as she crashed down onto her knees beside the still body of the Doctor. She pulled him over to face upwards, his head lolling uselessly on the ground. She checked his pulse point. She couldn't feel _anything_…

Jack was there within seconds. His face whitened instantly, checking the Doctor over as quickly yet as thoroughly as he could.

"CPR," was all he said, commencing chest compressions on both hearts as Rose moved to his mouth. When Jack was done she pinched his nose, tilted his head back and breathed out as much as she could into his lungs. They repeated it over and over again; with each chest compression they were falling more and more into despair…

Suddenly the Doctor jerked and gasped in air, coughing and choking as Rose and Jack whooped in delight that he wasn't quite dead yet. He was unconscious, but that didn't matter. He was breathing, if a little laboured.

"Back to camp," Jack said quickly, gathering the Doctor up in his arms and starting off back in the direction of the camp. "The Elder can treat him."

"What happened?" Rose asked, hastily following him.

"I dunno… But…" he trailed off, suddenly stopping and turning to look at her. "There was vomit a few metres away. Rose, it's all the symptoms of… Well, I think he overdosed."

Rose stared at Jack, utterly horrified. "You don't think he did it purposely?"

Jack swallowed. "No. No way. That's not him. He wouldn't do that."

But Rose was already on the verge of tears. "It's me, isn't it? He overdosed because of me. He wanted to die."

Jack didn't have an answer for her.


	16. NUTS!

Chapter 16 - NUTS!

The Doctor's eyes were staring fixedly at the ceiling, though in no way was he aware of his surroundings. His entire body was sweating profusely, all the while twitching and jerking randomly as he breathed shallow, stilted breaths.

Rose was staring at him sadly. She felt like a wreck. By now she'd almost fully convinced herself that it was a pre-meditated overdose with _her _primarily being the cause. She'd been avoiding him for days. Once inseparable best friends they were now like two strangers sitting next to each other on a bus – never talking, never looking at each other – just waiting for their stop.

If he didn't want a relationship, then so be it. They'd got on fine before without it so why couldn't they again? Though things were different now, and they'd probably never be the same again. But it was worth it just to try, surely?

Rose looked at his twitching body drowned in blankets again, and sighed. He wasn't well. He hadn't been well for a very long time, but that was okay. She was just there to make sure he was okay in the end. He'd held back a regeneration for her. Even after all that had happened with their relationship over the past week that surely counted for something, right? So, whenever the end was, near or far, she'd get him there.

"Ah, ah, ah!" the Doctor suddenly yelled, shooting up to sitting position, gasping for air. Rose nearly jumped through the roof.

"Doctor!"

His eyes connected with her, looking a bit frantic.

"Nuts!" he yelled. "Nuts!"

"What?"

"Nuts!" he yelled again, grabbing her by the arms and shaking her erratically. "I NEED NUTS!"

"Doctor!" Rose tried to shout back, but he was shaking her far too much.

"NUTS!" he screamed but was cut off from anything else he might've said as she drew back her hand and slapped him straight across the face.

He stopped, blinking in shock, falling silent. "What was that for?" he asked as he stared at her, genially puzzled.

"You were goin' mental!" Rose shrieked, quite terrified.

"Detox!" he was yelling again, panicked. "You remember that? I need to detox!"

"Oh!" Rose realised, slightly embarrassed. "Two seconds!" and with that, she pelted it out the door. For a few minutes the Doctor could do nothing but writhe on the bed, trying in vain to suppress the after-effects of the overdose.

"I got the stuff!" came Rose's yell as she ran back in, closely pursued by Jack.

"Brilliant!" the Doctor yelled back as got to his feet to meet her, having to use the wall to stay upright as he grabbed everything he needed from her arms and shoved it all into his gob.

"Shock!" he yelled, still chewing hurriedly on the last of the nuts. "Shock! I need a shock!"

"Okay," Rose breathed, grabbing him by the shoulders, wrenching him forwards and slamming her right foot straight in his groin.

Everything went quiet, the Doctor staring at Rose with a deer-caught-in-headlights expression before he managed to gasp, "wasn't expecting that..." and promptly crippled to the floor cupping his damaged goods. Jack was wincing, unconsciously covering his own area as he stepped warily backwards from Rose.

"What?" Rose asked innocently, casually shrugging. "He asked."

The Doctor ejected the white smoke shortly after through his mouth, but he was still lying on the floor curled into a ball, softly moaning. "I think something broke," he whined.

"The debate of kids is no longer optional," Jack supplied quietly.

"Oh come on," Rose said with a sigh, grabbing the Doctor's arm and trying to pull him up. But he wasn't moving. "It wasn't even that hard!" She pulled again. He made a quiet high-pitched whine in response. "Well, at least I have a weapon against you."

The Doctor's eyes widened, as did Jack's as he backed away even more towards the door. "No!"

"Get up, then," Rose responded, still pulling on his arm. Slowly he pulled himself up onto both feet, but very quickly sank back down onto the bed, hunched over, groaning. Rose sat next to him, still smiling. "I'm sorry, but you did bring it on yourself."

"Detox," he breathed, his brow furrowed. "Not doing that again."

Then Rose's thoughts instantly turned to the reason he'd had to do it. "You overdosed," she suddenly said quietly.

The tone of her voice was enough to make him look up at her. He didn't like her look of utter guilt. "What?" he asked.

"I'm really sorry," she muttered, almost in tears as she leant forward and hugged him. "Please don't do that again."

"Huh?" he asked, a little confused.

"I know I've been avoidin' you but please don't kill yourself..."

The Doctor looked nothing short of absolutely horrified. "No! No! It wasn't on purpose!"

Rose instantly visibly relaxed, breathing out a sigh of relief. "I thought..."

"Don't worry," the Doctor replied as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "Just me being stupid."

Jack could see where this was going. He gestured vaguely to the door, clearing his throat quietly. "I'll go... um... bye," he said, and promptly left. Not that the Doctor or Rose seemed to notice; lost in each other's gaze.

"I need to tell you something," the Doctor said, taking her hand and squeezing it.

Rose winced. "Let's not talk about that, yeah?"

"It's not bad," he assured her.

Rose swallowed. Had he... "Yeah?"

"I..."

He was interrupted by a groaning sound, the sound of ancient engines roaring in the hut. They both instantly knew what that was - the TARDIS.

It materialised and the future Doctor stepped out, looking at his surroundings. His eyes fixed on the present Doctor and Rose sitting in front of him, and he then promptly facepalmed.

"I got it wrong!" he exclaimed, throwing his arms in the air. "Again!"

"Got what wrong again?" Rose wondered, but the present Doctor stood up, slightly leaning slightly to the side as he addressed his future self rather irately.

"Can you leave now, please?"

The future Doctor stared at him, his leaning state, and laughed. "Oh, this is where she kicked you in the nuts isn't it? It'll ache for weeks."

"I was in the middle of something here!" the present Doctor insisted. "Go away!"

"Oh!" the future Doctor realised. "It's _that bit!_ Yes, very sorry," he said, turning back to the TARDIS. "I'll let you get on with that. I'm meant to be in the cave. I've already got it wrong once."

"Two weeks back," Rose said helpfully.

"Thanks," he replied, grinning. "I'll err... see you earlier." and with that he slipped back into the TARDIS and it churned out of existence.

The Doctor stared at the empty space. "Am I always like that?" he wondered.

"Pretty much," Rose said, nodding and grinning. "What were you sayin'?"

The Doctor stared at the empty space for a moment before sinking back down onto the bed and retaking her hand. "I..."

Then he stopped, suddenly looking away from her and gazing at the ceiling.

"What? You what?" Rose asked.

"Can you hear that?" the Doctor muttered, still staring above.

"Never mind that," Rose said anxiously. "What did you wanna tell me?"

"That music..." He let go of her hand and got to his feet. "It's beautiful."

Then Rose realised what was happening. "Oh no, no, don't do this..." She jumped to her feet beside him and tried in vain to force him to sit down again. "Snap out of it!"

"We need to go to the music," he said, and began to walk to the door.

"No!" Rose yelped and grabbed his arm again, trying to pull him back with all her weight.

"Let go of me!" He suddenly flipped, yanking his arm away and within seconds was out of the door. Rose quickly followed and it wasn't hard to catch him up, grabbing him and forcing him the the floor.

"Rose! Let go!" he almost screaming, thrashing around as he tried to get free.

Rose looked desperately up at a crowd of Kailans staring at them in bemusement. "Help me!" she pleaded, struggling to keep him down.

Minutes later the Doctor was wailing at Rose to let him go from where he was locked in with the other mentally hypnotised men, Jack included... but he was just another voice in the crowd of screams that got lost in the night.

* * *

**A/N:** Boooooooo!

Detox groin kicking you may be familiar with from the Drabb;es of Randomness. But hey, it's my idea! I claim full right to reuse my own idea :o


	17. A Little Less Conversation

**A/N: **I know, I know... *posts and runs*

* * *

Chapter 17 - A Little Less Conversation...

Rose wasn't quite sure why she was doing this.

She was standing outside the holding area for the men mere hours later, peering in through the bars. She could see the Doctor through the throng of men, pacing up and down with his teeth gritted and fists clenched, sweat on his forehead, muttering to himself insanely.

"Doctor?" she tried. He didn't seem to hear her. Maybe he'd forgotten who he was. She tried again. "Doctor?"

Suddenly he stopped and looked up at her, but his eyes were completely unfamiliar, filled with primal desire and lust. He saw her and instantly barged his way through the crowd to the bars, licking his lips as though he saw a tasty treat standing in front of him.

"Rose," he hissed, pressing his face up against the wooden bars. "Let me out. Please, let me out."

"I can't do that, Doctor," she said quietly.

"Please, I'm okay. I'm normal. I'm fine. It was only temporary. Let me out."

Rose stared at him for a moment, the bead of saliva on his chin, the manly grunts coming from his throat. Was the Doctor still in there?

"Let me out," he said again. "I'm okay. I'm me."

For a moment she wondered - maybe he could control it? Maybe he really _was _fine? He would be much better off in bed resting than standing in this holding area with tens of other testosterone-driven men. Maybe she could look after him, maybe...

"LET ME OUT!" he suddenly screamed, rattling the bars with a scream of anger. "LET ME OUT, ROSE!"

She hesitantly backed away, but suddenly the Doctor's arm shot out and grabbed her wrist, yanking her back towards him roughly.

"LET ME OUT!" he screamed at her, grabbing her around the neck with both hands. "NOW!"

"Doctor! Let go!" She struggled, trying desperately to get away but she was afraid he might break her neck... he was pressing down, gripping so hard she couldn't breathe. "That hurts!"

"Let me out or I'll kill you!" he screamed, spittle flying into her face.

"Let go!" she gasped, but the lack of oxygen from the grip around her neck was beginning to make her disorientated, feeling like she should faint... "Please..." she was choking, fighting to stay conscious... "Doctor... please..."

He didn't, still screaming in her face. There was nothing for it. She raised her hands and shoved him away with every ounce of force that she could muster. He stumbled back, surprised more than anything else, but she took her opportunity and ran for, quite literally, her life.

She made it back to his hut, dropping down onto the bed and fighting back tears. That thing... whatever that was... was not the Doctor. He would never have done that, no matter how angry he was. For the first time in her life she was utterly terrified of him.

She didn't sleep a wink that night.

* * *

Morning came, and Rose was waiting outside when the men were released. For a moment she couldn't see either the Doctor or Jack through the crowd but suddenly someone took her hand and pulled her out of the cluster of people and into the open. The Doctor.

"I flipped," he said simply, looking a little winded. "I knew it would happen at some point."

She didn't answer him. He gazed at her for a moment. She was covering her neck. "What's wrong?" he asked, reaching up and quickly pulling away her hands before she could resist. There was dark bruising around her neck, shaped in a way that could only denote someone had tried to strangle her. Utter horror filled him, his eyes wide as plates.

"Who did this to you?" he demanded to know, horror quickly turning into anger. She didn't answer him, staring at the floor. "Rose?"

"Please don't," she whispered, on the verge of tears.

"Tell me or I'll find out," he said lowly, seriously.

There was nothing for it. She took his hands and placed them on her neck where he'd had her in the death grip the night before. The bruises were consistent completely with his hand shape and size. And he could see it.

"What?" he gasped, pulling them back away and staring at his hands in horror. "I did it?"

"I had to see you. You screamed to let you go and you grabbed my neck and tried to choke me," she explained quietly.

"Oh Rassilon," he breathed, still staring at his hands. "I can't remember... I wouldn't... I swear..."

"I know," she said, offering a sad smile.

He took her into a tight hug, guilt flooding him. This little human he loved so much, so fragile... he had almost killed her. And she wasn't screaming and running away from him. _Why_ wasn't she screaming and running away?

"I'm so sorry," he muttered. "I don't remember anything..."

"It's okay," she said quietly into his chest. "You were out of your head."

"It's not okay. What if I do it again? What if I kill you?" He sounded genuinely terrified. That was a first. "I wouldn't even know I did it."

Rose didn't reply, enjoying his embrace. For a skinny guy he sure was great at hugs.

"There's one thing I can do," he suddenly said, drawing back. "But we need to talk first."

She nodded, and he took her by the hand gently. Much more gentle than ever before. He guided her towards the hut, completely ignorant to the fact that Jack existed as they took a seat on the bed, side by side.

He was still gazing at her damaged neck as he took her hands in his, really looking as though he were about to cry. She squeezed his hand, offering a smile. He gave a tentative one back.

"I can't stop me... going like that," he began slowly. "But... there's something I can do which will make sure I'll never hurt you. But we need to have this talk first. Without getting interrupted. Hopefully."

"Go for it," she said a little quickly, but she was quite desperate for this by now.

"Well, I..."

"Hey guys!" It was Jack. Rose could've slapped him.

"Okay, this _clearly_ isn't working," the Doctor said, not even acknowledging Jack. He took Rose's hand again and stood up, making towards the hut door. Rose gave the confused Jack a small farewell wave, but that was all he got as the pair disappeared into the woodland.

* * *

"Where are we goin'?" Rose wondered. They'd been walking for twenty minutes with no sign of stopping, the Doctor seemingly knowing exactly where he was going.

"Somewhere we're not going to get interrupted," he replied simply. After a few moment he looked up and suddenly stopped, before a smile broke onto his face coupled with a very enthusiastic, "ahhhh!"

Rose looked up and suddenly found to her complete surprise they had reached some kind of spring, and there was only one word for it. Beautiful. The bright green leaves mixed with the Kailan natural plants of purple, pink and blue, surrounded a clear, inviting looking spring like something out of an expensive holiday brochure yet so, _so_ much more alien. But before she had a chance to take it all in the Doctor was coaxing her to sit on the floor beside him, his pearly teeth smile broad and shining as bright as ever. She did so, and couldn't help but reflect his smile. It was an extremely infectious smile.

"Right," he began, retaking her hands again. "No more interruptions. I…"

Then there it was again. The familiar groaning of the TARDIS engines as it came in to land, Fading in and out mere metres from where they were sitting. The Doctor let go an exasperated groan, burying his head in his hands before once again his future self stepped out.

"Hello!" the future Doctor began, and then stopped, staring at the two of them. "… I don't think this is right."

"No, it's not," the Doctor replied rudely. "Go away."

"I'm meant to be in the cave."

"We know. Go away."

"Am I being rude again?" the future Doctor asked Rose, pointing at her Doctor with a pout. She laughed, but the Doctor was slightly more than irritated by now.

"It's not hard!" he yelled. "Two weeks ago!"

"This is only the first time I've got it wrong!" the future Doctor protested in a high-pitched voice.

Rose could see where this was going. "No, no, two weeks ago. Go now, Doctor," she said quickly, covering her Doctor's mouth to prevent him from replying.

"Fine," the future Doctor said, turning to go back into the TARDIS. "Just one word of advice. Don't use a leaf."

The TARDIS door closed and quickly faded from existence, but not before the Doctor had wrenched Rose's hand off of his mouth and yelled, "That was a _sentence _not a _word!"_

He turned to see Rose was staring at him, with the slightest sense of 'what-the-hell?'. He cleared his throat uncomfortably, and would've loosened his tie but quickly realised that he hadn't had one for a few weeks now.

"You really don't get on with yourself, do you?" she stated more than asked.

"I didn't tell you about the time there were five of me. Well, technically four, but I'll say five. Can't stand any of 'em. Dead Zone and Rassilon and Raston Warriors and stuff, good story, I'll tell you sometime. But anyway… one more interruption and I'll bang my head against a rock."

Rose nodded, grinning. "Do it, quick."

"Right," the Doctor began, clearing his throat and taking a breath. "Here goes."

And just like that, he leant forward and kissed her. It was the whole works; tongues, saliva, hand-in-hair entanglement and a duration of at least a minute. When they finally parted they were both quite out of breath, but the Doctor's smile was as irresistible as ever.

"Does that answer that?" he asked.

Rose was sure this had to be a trick of some kind. A nasty joke. A hallucination? A really good dream…

"Pinch me," she asked quickly.

He obliged, pinching her arm quite hard. She gasped, hand clamping to her arm when pain shot through as she stared at him, still in slight disbelief.

"I thought you didn't want it?" she asked dryly.

He instantly looked extremely guilty. "I lied."

"Why?"

"Because I was scared." He didn't break his gaze, and it was for that reason she could instantly see that he had just told her the complete and total truth.

"About what?"

He ignored the question. "I'm ready."

She took his hands into her own, holding them to her face. "You're really okay with it?"

He nodded. "I've been stupid for weeks, and I'm sorry for how I treated you. I'm getting old and insensitive. I'll do anything to make you happy, and if having kids with me is what makes you happy then let's procreate."

She suddenly froze. "But you don't want them."

He reassured her with another smile. "Rose, I won't lie, I have so many reasons not to do it. They will never go away. But I realised that as soon as I have my child in my arms, even though those reasons will still be in the back of my mind, they just won't matter anymore. Because that feeling is the only guarantee in a future that can go anywhere. As they grow up they might have a thousand enemies, but they'll have a million friends. And we'll all protect them. If a Dalek fancies a shot it'll have to go through an immortal, a Time Lord, a fierce mother, an even fiercer grandmother and a pretty much impenetrable TARDIS. They couldn't have better protection."

She smiled a big, happy smile. "I love you."

"I know," he replied, beaming as wide a sign of happiness as she was.

"So what happens next?"

"There's one more thing," he said. "It'll stop me hurting you no matter what happens. It's called bonding. It sorts of works by putting a bit of you into my mind and a bit of mine into yours. We'll always be a part of each other, and we'll know what the other's feeling, if one of us is hurt the other will know instantly. If you get good at it you can have a bit of control over each other's emotions. When we're bonded we can never hurt each other because it becomes instinct not to, possessed or drugged or hypnotised or crazed or whatever enthralling delights we'll see in the future years. But it's pretty much irreversible, so if you're just having me on about all this then maybe you'd better say something now."

She laughed, leaning forward and dabbing a kiss on his lips. "Let's do it." Then she stopped, frowning. "How _do _you do it?"

"Oh, easily," the Doctor replied, waving an uncaring hand. "I can do it in…" He paused for dramatic effect. "In whatever happens next."

"Which is?" Rose asked, though the Doctor could tell she already knew the answer if the smile on her face was anything to go by. He didn't answer verbally, merely leant forward and let his body do the talking. She replied in kind, and together they had the conversation that had been long since overdue.

* * *

**A/N: **The rating's going up, next chapter. For the intense smuttage heading your way that was totally unplanned.

Totally NOT TenRose. Nuh uh. Never ever. No TenRose here! I've not just written a few pages of intense smut of TenRose! Not a nugget.


	18. Really Very Long Chapter

**A/N: **Rating's going up for some quite intense smuttage that was totally unplanned in the first scene of the chapter. As ever, if you don't wanna see it please skip over the first scene! :P

* * *

Chapter 18 - Really Very Long Chapter

"26!" Rose squealed in the midst of a cry of ecstasy, her fingers entwining deep in the Doctor's hair as her entire body shivered with pleasure.

The Doctor was panting as he looked up to stare at her, his tongue still hanging out from the oral. "What are you counting?" he asked, confused.

"Number of orgasms," she replied in a gasp.

"No, no, that's pressure!" he almost squeaked.

"No, that's good! It means you have a very talented tongue," she assured him, fighting to get her breath back. "Have you never had sex before?"

"Err..."

"900-year-old virgin?" she wondered, struggling not to laugh.

"No, I have, it's just been a while," he said quickly.

"Well, you're really good," she complemented. "Better than Mickey."

He stopped, staring at her.

"Sorry!" she said, laughing. "Forget I said that." She quickly pushed him back down. He resumed what he had been doing for a moment before he stopped and got up onto his elbows again, closing his eyes and moaning in irritation.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"I can't get that image of you and Mickey out of my head," he groaned. "It's a bit of a turn off."

She laughed. "Think of something sexy, then. Err..."

"Oh no," he breathed, scrunching up his eyes and winced. "Now it's your Mum in her nightie..."

"Cheryl Cole? Megan Fox?" she tried, wondering if he fell into the category of an alpha male. He shook his head at both. "What about that programme you watch? By The Light Of The Asteroid? The brunette one?"

"Nope..."

She grabbed his hands and placed them to on her chest, pushing him to squeeze. "How about this?"

He grinned. "Yep, that works," he said, kissing her deeply for a moment before he drew back, staring into her eyes. "Can I...?"

"Please!" She gestured through pants for air and he nodded, moving down and repositioning her legs until he entered her for the first ever time, thrusting gently. Oh, the nights Rose had dreamt of this. Quite _literally _dreamt on many occasions. Then a thought hit her.

"Wait!" she suddenly said through gasps and he froze in mid-thrust.

"What?" he asked quickly.

"Have you got a condom?"

He stared at her. "Not on me, no," was the sarcastic reply.

"How about a leaf?" she said quickly, already scrounging on the floor around her.

"Rose..."

She stopped looking, staring at him. He was still holding her legs, parked inside her, hovering and absolutely dying to explode as he panted and tried to contain himself. "What?" she asked.

"I don't think we're meant to," he gasped. "Maybe this is the night we're supposed to make the twins."

"But we're still on an island in the middle of nowhere," she countered. "Will they be born here?"

"Rose, I _really _don't know," he breathed, his entire face scrunched up with the pure effort of not ejaculating. "But maybe you could talk about this for a little while longer!"

"Fine," she said lying out, submissive. "Rock my world, then."

He ignored the comment and began the rhythm again until he couldn't contain it any longer and his flood rushed out, unprotected into her. They both came together in a singular cry, a feeling of passionate fire flooding both of their bodies. For a moment after they just panted until the Doctor managed to pull himself out and drape his body over hers. He looked at her, kissing her again and brushing back the hair from her sweaty forehead.

"Can you feel it?" he asked with a smile, his fingertips caressing her cheek.

She didn't need to ask what he was talking about. "Yeah," she replied in a whisper. "It's amazin'."

"Good," he breathed. She could feel him, his ecstasy, his love, his elation at what had just happened, and her own similar feelings in equal measure mixing together to make her the happiest she had ever felt in her life. This was the bond. She wanted him, every morsel of him now and forever. She wanted to kiss him, to feel his hands on her skin, her hands on his skin, skin on skin, it didn't really matter. She _needed _him back inside of her...

"Again?" he asked, sounding a little desperate.

"Can you do that?" she asked breathlessly.

"Ejaculation for me is possible around ten times an hour," he stated as though it were some statistical figure he was presenting on the news.

"Bloody hell," Rose said, shocked. "Mickey couldn't manage..."

"Rose!" he shouted quickly, wincing again.

"Oh sorry," she said, grabbing his hands again and putting them on her chest. "Go."

* * *

"Someone just had sex," was the first thing Jack said to Rose and the Doctor as they arrived back in the camp. "I hope you used protection, kids!"

The Doctor decided to ignore him again. He turned to Rose, gesturing over his shoulder. "I'll go get it, don't move."

She nodded, standing up on tiptoes to peck a kiss on his lips. "Don't be long."

The Doctor grinned and quickly turned, striding towards his hut. As he disappeared inside Rose turned back to Jack, who was grinning absurdly.

"So, have a nice talk?" he asked.

"We had a few," Rose replied simply, taking a seat on one of the wooden benches.

"And how many conclusions did he reach?" he wondered, sitting beside her. "You were gone all day."

"Fifteen," she replied, smiling happily.

Jack's mouth fell open. "Really?"

"He's a good conversationalist. He can go on for hours."

"He can come _that _many times?"

Rose's tongue was between her teeth, still smiling happily. "What, Jack? I thought we were talking about conversations."

He rolled his eyes. "Did he run out of steam?"

She shook her head. "No, he needed his pain control," she said and then looked up at the hut where the Doctor had disappeared, suddenly anxious. "Where is he?"

"He's only been gone a minute."

"Doctor?" Rose yelled across the clearing.

"I'm coming!" he called back, and quickly reappeared from the hut, making towards her as fast as he could. When they met they engaged in a huge hug and, Jack noted, a very wet kiss.

"I missed you," she said into his chest.

"I missed you too," he replied, kissing her again.

"Get a room, guys," Jack muttered, feeling somewhat left out.

"Yeah..." She looked up at the Doctor. "Is your hut free?"

"More?" Jack squeaked. "I'm getting a bit horny, here."

"It's a side effect of bonding," the Doctor explained. "Sex drive goes through the roof when you initially place it."

"Aren't you wearing down your penis?" Jack wondered.

The Doctor ignored him for the third time that day, leading Rose hand-in-hand to the hut with a call of, "don't come in!" to Jack over his shoulder.  
"But it's more fun with three!" Jack yelled back, but they were already gone.

Jack sighed. He needed a cold shower.

* * *

Night rolled by and all of the men were making their way into the holding area for the nightly burst of insanity. Rose was on the verge of crying as she said good bye to the Doctor and Jack, kisses and hugs all round."I'll see you in the morning, yeah?" Rose asked, hugging the Doctor tightly.

"Don't come near us," the Doctor warned, kissing her forehead. "Stay away."

She nodded, turning to hug Jack for a moment before she stepped back, gesturing to the holding area. "See you later, then."

They both nodded and turned to walk away. They both gave Rose one last quick wave before they went inside the gate and took a seat on the mud floor sitting side by side in amongst the Kailan men. For a moment there was only silence, and then Jack looked at him.

"She's probably pregnant, isn't she?"

"Probably," the Doctor replied, offering a small smile.

"What happens if they're born here?" Jack asked.

The Doctor just shrugged. "Then we'll deal with that when we get there."

"Is she in danger?" Jack asked. "I mean, will she need medical aid to get through it?"

The Doctor didn't answer for a moment, running his hand down his face. "She'll be okay, we've got me and a xenobiologist to deliver if we do get stuck here. I'm just a bit worried about..." He paused again, clearing his throat. "Telling Jackie just exactly why Rose has come back home with two babies."

Jack grinned, but the conversation was cut short as the music began and both human and Time Lord lost their minds.

* * *

Rose decided to sleep in the Doctor's bed, if only for his scent infused into the covers as she mulled over the events of the day. She finally had him. In all mental and physical sense of the word 'had'. She had _had _him quite a few times, and there was an extremely high chance that right now she was pregnant. Would it be normal? Nine months? Or shorter? Or longer? Or some alien-like symptoms? Would the birth be different? She'd have to ask the Doctor when he went back to normal tomorrow morning.

And she didn't know how in the world she was going to explain this to her Mum, never mind Mickey. She supposed Mickey had always had a slight belief that they were still a couple, that maybe once she got bored of the Doctor she'd settle down with him, back in London, back with a mortgage and back with a shop assistant job in Henrik's.

The mere thought of that was enough to make her shudder now, though _technically_she had never properly broken up with Mickey. She had _technically _just cheated on him eighteen times in one day.

But this was always an inevitability. If it hadn't been thrown onto her and the Doctor like this it probably would've happened a few years down the line anyway.

She rested her hand on her belly, wondering if there was a new life forming in there.

Suddenly there was a loud crash from outside and Rose jumped up to sitting position, eyes wide. The usual screams of the contained men suddenly built into a crescendo, what seemed like hundreds of footsteps running along the ground.

"Doctor!" she screamed and ran out of the hut into the clearing, coming upon a terrifying sight.

The holding area gate was broken open, and all of the men were flooding out and straight into the forest to follow the sound of the music. She frantically scoured the crowd for any sign of the Doctor and Jack...

She couldn't see them.

Taking a breath for courage, she ran straight into the crowd, screaming for the Doctor and Jack. She was shoved from side to side roughly as tens of men blindly ran to the centre of the music. She caught a glimpse of brown hair in amongst the crowd of heads and she screamed for him again, starting towards him, but someone shoved her and she fell headlong into the dirt. Heart in her throat she quickly struggled up again and check where she'd seen the brown hair, but it was gone.

"Doctor! Jack!" she screamed once more but the only thing she got in reply was a hard shove from one of the running men and she fell back into the dirt again. Someone suddenly grabbed her and hauled her onto her feet, and to her complete surprise and delight she saw the Doctor staring down at her, looking as though he wasn't quite sure what he was doing. In seconds he covered her with his own body and hauled her out of the rush of men and into the clear, helping her to stand up.

"Are you okay?" he asked softly.

"Yeah..." Rose murmured, looking up into his deep brown eyes. Was he... normal again?

"I need to..." he began, looking up into the air, the music still playing. "I need to... go..."

His instincts were fighting the music's influence through the bond... if she could exaggerate that, maybe he would snap out of it?

"No," Rose replied, gaining a firm hold of his shoulders. "You don't need to go anywhere."

"But..." he trailed off, an obvious conflict in his mind. "The music..."

He began to move.

Rose grabbed his shirt, pulling him back down so his face was on centimetres from her own. "Stay with me, Doctor. You need to stay with me. I'm gonna get hurt if you leave."

She could feel his breath on her face, seemingly panting for air.

"She can... they... I need to..." he said, making to move forward again but Rose grabbed his shirt again, yanking him down to her and slamming her lips on his. He tried to pull away but she flung her arms around his neck, kissing him deeply. After a moment he began to kiss back, his hands moving down her back.

She pulled back, cupping his chin gently, gazing into his eyes. "I love you," she whispered.

"Rose?" he asked, his voice cracked and barely above a whisper.

"Please stay with me."

"I need... to stay here," he finally said, nodding. "... With you."

"Yeah, you do," she said, smiling and stroking his face.

"I need... to protect you," he said dryly. "You're... the most important thing. I need to stay here and protect you or you'll get hurt."

She nodded, taking his hand and leading him back to the hut, where she guided him to lay down and the bed, curling up next to him.

"Go to sleep," she said softly, stroking his hair. "You're really tired."

"I'm really tired," he repeated, yawning. "But..." He suddenly looked up – the music was still playing. "Don't I need to do something?"

"You need to sleep. Close your eyes, now."

After a moment he nodded, lying down on the blanket and closing his eyes. She continued to stroke his hair as he faded away into sleep, and she continued for a good while after.

* * *

**A/N: **So maybe there's a TAD TenRose... :o


	19. Awkward Ways To Die

**A/N:** Yet more smuttage at the bottom of this chapter. You have been warned. It'll be pretty obvious when it starts...

* * *

Chapter 19 - Awkward Ways To Die

The Doctor woke up, and instantly became aware of something tied around his wrists and ankles, making him completely and rigidly spread-eagled on the surface he was lying on. He opened his eyes instantly to check his wrists. They were tied to the bedpoles by lengths of rope. He strained his neck to see his feet, and they were done in the same manner at the bottom of the bed. His eyebrows raised in confusion. This couldn't be a kinky Rose-related idea. He was still fully dressed.

"Rose?" he asked the air, because she obviously wasn't in the room. He tried tugging at the restraints but they were very securely tied. "Rose?" he wailed again, a little louder.

Suddenly the hut flap flew open and Rose came rushing in hurriedly. "You're awake!"

"And tied up?" he wondered vaguely.

"Insurance," was Rose's simple reply, reaching forward to untie him.

"Why?" he asked as she quickly undid his left wrist in a couple of swift pulls. "Wait, never mind that," he began, staring at his binds. "Where did you learn how to do a Full Carrick Bend knot?"

"Mum went out with a sailor," Rose replied simply again, freeing his right wrist. He rubbed his sore wrists and sat up as she moved down to free his ankles, quite obviously in a hurry. "Do you remember anythin'?" she asked.

He shook his head, pulling away his left foot when it was freed. "What happened?"

"The holding area broke open," she began to explain, freeing his right foot and quickly pulling him to stand up. "All the men ran out into the forest. I managed to stop you but Jack's gone; he just ran off, along with most of the other men."

The Doctor was suddenly tense, running his hands through his hair. "Straight to the Sirens."

She nodded. "The Elder wants to talk with you."

"Okay," he replied before she took his hand and pulled him out of the hut into the clearing. From where he stood twenty metres away the Doctor could quite easily see the completely wrecked holding area, the sides collapsed, the gate broken in half. But Rose was already leading him over to the Elder's tent, pushing him through the flap first. The Elder was pacing up and down, hands clutched behind his back, obviously agitated, but looked up when he saw the Doctor and Rose enter.

Rose listened as the Doctor spoke to the Elder in the Kailan language, their conversation comprised of quick and short sentences with the Elder gesturing frantically, evidently extremely worried. Within minutes the discussion was over and the Doctor took her hand again, pulling her back out into the morning sunshine.

"We're going after them," he said, turning to face her. "I owe it to the Elder."

"To the Sirens?" Rose asked.

He nodded. "The rescue the men. Pack some supplies, this could be a bit of a trip."

Rose looked a little surprised. "Where's the 'you're stayin' here it's too dangerous'?"

The Doctor looked a little embarrassed, scratching behind his left ear. "It's gotten to be a bit of a pointless line really, hasn't it?"

She considered this, and then shrugged in agreement. "What are you gonna do?"

"Look for clues," he said. "Meet back here in ten minutes."

"Okay," she got onto tiptoes and pecked him a kiss on the lips before turning and running off to the hut as the Doctor ran to the destroyed holding area.

* * *

"Oh my god," Rose gasped, her hand flying to her mouth as she stared at the sight in front of her with complete and utter horror.  
She and the Doctor had been following the footsteps left behind by the stampede of men for about thirty minutes now - they made a very clear path in the otherwise undisturbed mud ground from the camp towards the source of the sound. But now they had emerged into a clearing in the forest to a horrific sight. Tens of dead bodies scattered across the ground, the purple alien blood of Kailans in puddles around them.

The Doctor obediently held Rose as she buried her head into his chest, clinging onto him tightly. He could feel her distress quite easily, and it was making him sad, anxious and extremely protective.

Then he spotted something on the ground, a hint of red amongst the purple. Red blood? Jack had been here. He continued holding onto Rose as he moved forward, peering at the red. There was something...

It was Jack's vortex manipulator, lying ripped and abandoned as though just slashed off of his wrist. Intrigued, the Doctor stooped to pick it up.

"Is that...?"

The Doctor nodded. "Jack's been through here," he muttered. "Probably killed then got up again…"

"What killed them?" Rose asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

The Doctor swallowed. This carnage could only be the work of one particular thing on the island, and he'd nearly been killed by it himself… The quite aptly named

"Widowmaker."

Rose stared at him, absolutely terrified. "You mean…"

"I think…" He paused, lips pursed. "This is where the Widowmakers sort of… live."

Rose's eyes somehow became even wider. "Are they around here somewhere?"

"I don't know," he muttered. "Let's go, quick."

He took her hand and began to lead her quickly through the area, following the path of the footsteps, trying to get to the other side and out of the danger zone as quickly as possible. The atmosphere was quiet. Too quiet. The Doctor's hand tightened in Rose's even further than it already was, utterly alert...

Then something appeared through the bushes, a giant shadowed creature staring at them both curiously. It growled.

"Run," the Doctor hissed, and off they went. Exactly like before they were running through the undergrowth hand in hand, stray branches scratching at their hands and faces as they tried desperately to lose their unwanted stalker but once again they were failing, miserably. The sound of a pursuing wild animal was very close behind them and seemingly gaining every second, growling and roaring in the throes of a hunt. It wasn't long before the Doctor was staggering, still not fully healed and struggling to run.

It was just like last time.

Rose knew she had to do something, and fast. She daren't risk a glance over her shoulder for the fear that she'd lose her footing and take the Doctor down with her… So she fought her fear and scoured the area for anything that could help them, anything at all…

"This way!" she yelled, dragging the Doctor off to the side through yet more woodland and straight towards a strange rock formation. Was the bear still following them? She couldn't tell…

There was a crack between the rocks, an opening just large enough for a humanoid to slide in. She shoved the Doctor in front of her, pushing him with all her might until he was through the gap and she threw herself in next. The Doctor grabbed her arm and pulled her through just as the widowmaker roared and shoved it paw in the opening, scrambling around to try and grab at a piece of the Doctor or Rose with those deathly, sharp claws. Rose fell on top of the Doctor who yelped and collapsed onto the floor before quickly scrambling away and pulling Rose with him to back up against the far wall. The claws were barely inches from them, trying to grab at their flesh...

The Doctor put his fingers on Rose's lips, holding her tightly against him as she straddled him for what seemed like hours until the widowmaker finally withdrew its paw, growling deep, throaty growls. Slowly they heard it move away, padding away from the rock formation.

"Bad sense of smell," the Doctor whispered in explanation, drawing his finger away from her lips. "If it can't see us or hear us it might think we're gone."

They both fell silent, listening for any hint of them. Rose couldn't hear anything.

"Do we go?" she asked quietly.

He shook his head. "They'll prowl a while, we have to stay here for a bit."

She nodded, looking at his sprawled body beneath her, sat up against the cave wall. "You okay?"

He offered a wan smile. "Exhausted."

"You don't want a quickie, then?"

His grin widened. "Only if you're quiet."

"Only if you can manage that," she replied, sticking her tongue out at him.

"You can do the work," the Doctor informed her, breathing out and letting his head loll on the rock, leaving himself open.

"Fair enough."

She coaxed him to lift himself so she could pull down his shorts and boxers before removing her pants from beneath her skirt, kissing him deeply on the lips as she began to work her magic. She found the Time Lord a much better sex partner than any human could ever be. They didn't need lubricant, he didn't fall asleep straight afterwards and not to mention his insane ejaculation rate. With one hand she tickled and ran her fingers along the underside of his cock, and quite quickly he was semi-hard.

She looked down, blinking in surprise. "I didn't do anythin'."

"I'm needy," he replied simply. She shrugged, nonchalant before she began to work him even harder. She grabbed him in both hands and changed her stance to straddle his legs, staring into his eyes as she began to run her hands up and down him, squeezing occasionally until he was quite visibly struggling not to cry out in pleasure, chest rising and falling in silent pants. He was fully hard now, staring at her wide-eyed as she grinned and let go, shimmying forward.

"You're not gonna do anythin'?" she wondered.

"You're doing such a great job," he gasped. "I'd just ruin it."

She rolled her eyes at him, grabbing fistfuls of his hair in both hands, kissing him all over his face and down his neck before moving back up to his lips again.

Methodically she continued to snog him passionately as she moved to guide his very hard interest into her. She drew back and pinned his arms to the wall but continued to kiss him, the both of them struggling to stay quiet as she began to ride him, at first slow but as his and her need increased tenfold every second she began to go faster and harder, pushing him deeper inside her with every progressive thrust. He was writhing beneath her in pleasure and trying desperately not to make any noise as she panted shallowly, forcing him inside her deeperand harder and faster and wetter...

Suddenly there was a growl. A deep, throaty growl from just outside the entrance. The Doctor and Rose froze in mid-movement, with their lips still locked, with him still inside of her, with Rose's hands still pinning him to the wall. Their eyes averted to the large brown snout poking in through the gap, sniffing around with interest.

Time ticked by, the Doctor quite visibly struggling not to come and Rose hanging halfway down his shaft, the urge to push him in almost unbearable. The eyes of the widowmaker were placed too far back to see them, but one noise...

Finally the snout withdrew and the bear moved away. Their eyes connected again and they waited a few more moments in silence before Rose finally gave in, gasping as she forced him in as deep as biology would allow - at the same time he came inside her with his own quiet moan. For a moment they stopped to catch their breaths.

"Bloody hell," Rose muttered, still panting. "That would've been an awkward way to die."

"I know," he replied in a gasp. "It felt like your Mum just walked in on us."

Rose could only roll her eyes, but kissed him anyway as she pulled him out of her. She laid down on top of him, and snuggled into his chest.

"What now?" she wondered.

"Have to stay here," he replied. "They're still out there."

"Lot of time on our hands," she murmured.

He looked down at her, raising an eyebrow. "Your turn, right?"

She was grinning up at him, tongue between her teeth. "You bet."

He sighed, but was smiling at the same time. "Just let me catch my breath."

* * *

**A/N: **Review reply. I'm useless, I know, in that I have to actually designate a chapter for review reply when everyone else does it for every review. But I'm not an interesting person. I don't have anything interesting to say :o But review reply will be done!


	20. Greek Mythology 101

**A/N: **Really am totally serious this time, I WILL review reply, because I have a new computer and it's lush and I don't have to steal anymore! :D

I love Greek Mythology. Dunno why I never really touched on it before.

* * *

Chapter 20 - Greek Mythology 101

When the Doctor finally deemed it okay to leave their safety hole it was already evening. Hand-in-hand once more they slowly made their way through the forest in complete silence, following the footsteps in the mud once again, checking for angry alien bears every step of the way. Eventually they emerged out the other side of the danger zone and freely let themselves breathe again.

"It's getting dark," the Doctor noted.

"What's the time?" Rose asked, anxious.

"Nearing 9 o'clock," he muttered. "The music's going to start again soon. We've got to move." And with that he tightened his grip on her hand and led her via the path of the footsteps once again.

"Doctor?" Rose asked after a pause.

"Yup?" he asked, still moving and scouring the distance for anything that was likely to hack them both to death.

"Do you know what these things are?" she asked. "Like... at all?"

He could only shrug. "Some kind of tiny race probably specific to this planet, capable of some form of hypnotic control and pretty good at banging out a tune."

"That it?" she wondered.

"Yup," he said again.

"What about the Siren things?"

"Well, according to Greek Mythology, and believe me there are a million different versions, but my favourite story is that they were human handmaidens of the Goddess of Spring Bounty, Persephone. She was abducted by Hades as an adolescent, dragged to the Underworld in order for her to be his Queen because he had a bit of a crush on her. Persephone's Mother, Demeter, the Goddess of Bountiful Harvest, was so worried for Persephone she began a massive search, and the Sirens joined in. They prayed for wings to help the search, and the gods granted their wish, turning them into half-human half-birds. But they gave up and settled on an island. There they played their enchanting music, luring unsuspecting sailors to a messy death on the rocks."

"Don't suppose it mentions how to beat them?" Rose wondered, tentatively grinning.

"Well..." The Doctor thought for a moment, lips pursed. "There are two stories of people that passed them by. Orpheus, and later Odysseus. Luckily Orpheus was very good at hammering out a tune himself, so he was able to drown out the Siren's music with his own so his crew weren't lured. Odysseus sailed by a bit later, ordering his men to stuff their ears with wax and tie him to the mast, and not to let him go no matter what he said because he was intrigued to hear what the song sounded like. They made it out of hearing range. The Sirens were so distraught that someone had heard their music but passed them by that they drowned themselves." He looked her, at gave a half shrug. "Well, that's one of the versions anyway. Which is what I need to talk to you about."

"What?"

He stopped, turning to face her and drawing the sonic out of his inside jacket pocket. "The song's going to start soon, and I'm going to... err... turn. But there's a way I can stop myself from hearing it."

"How?"

He tapped his ear. "Deafen myself."

Rose's jaw dropped, opening her mouth to retort...

"It's okay," he said quickly. "At a certain frequency and decibel level it will displace the stirrup and deafen me. You won't hear it, but it'll spark me right out for a few minutes, and when I come to I'll be deaf."

"But it's okay to fix, yeah?" Rose asked, anxious.

He nodded. "One more quick buzz of the sonic will realign the bones."

She swallowed. "Okay."

"Oh, and one more thing."

He lifted the sonic and held it to her belly, pressing down. The blue light pulsed two times in quick succession.

"Pregnant with two fertilised eggs," he announced, beaming.

"A boy and a girl?" Rose wondered, grinning knowingly.

"Perhaps," he replied, throwing the sonic up in the air with a flip before catching it again and beginning to adjust the settings with both hands.

"Wonder what Mum'll say," Rose murmured, resting a hand on her tummy. "Pregnant with two alien babies."

"I was trying not to think about that," he muttered. "Can we just..." He paused, looking at her almost pleadingly. "... Not tell her?"

Rose sighed despairingly. "Doctor, that's stupid. I can't not tell my Mum she's got grandchildren."

There was another slight pause.

"Don't ask don't tell?" he tried.

"No, Doctor," she said severely, glaring at him.

He sighed. "She's going to kill me."

"She's always wanted grandchildren," Rose tried to assure him.

"Not by an alien," the Doctor countered.

"Well, you look human. It could be worse. You could look like a Slitheen."

The Doctor smirked. "I suppose so."

"Unless you've been usin' some kinda morphic illusion on me since day one," she joked.

He raised an eyebrow. "Would it matter if I had?"

She laughed. "No." He stared at her seriously. She stared back. "... Have you?"

He burst out a laughing. "No, but your face was priceless."

"Besides," Rose continued, quite obviously ignoring him. "She likes this version of you. Good dress sense, good lookin'..."

The Doctor pulled a face at the latter comment.

"Plus you talk like us," she finished. He looked at her quizzically. "The accent," she clarified.

"Oh," he realised. "That was you."

"What?"

"When I first regenerated, I adopted your accent. Like a chick imprinting on a Mother hen. After I regenerate I cling onto the first things I encounter," he explained, and then grinned. "Probably why I cling to you so much."

Rose snorted, but all humour quickly vanished when he held up the now fully-calibrated sonic.

"It's ready," he said.

She swallowed and then nodded, reaching up to kiss him on the lips, arms wrapped around his neck. "I love you."

"I love you too," he replied, fully aware that if this didn't work out those might be the last words he'd ever hear. He held out the sonic to her, which she took, and pointed to the precise point he indicated behind his ear. With another nervous swallow she cupped the back of his neck, needing to feel his skin on her's.

"Ready?" she asked, staring up into his eyes.

"Go for it," he said, offering a supportive smile.

She closed her eyes, and pressed the button.

In a wave of sonic blue a scream of utter and complete pain burst out of the Doctor like the dying screech of a bird. Rose felt two shots of dull pain in her inner ears that flashed, and then went away again - the stirrups in the Doctor's ears. Job done, she quickly pulled away the sonic and shoved it into her backpack before the Doctor nearly collapsed straight onto her. She caught him just in time, lowering his limp body to the ground before pulling his upper body onto her lap, brushing back his hair and kissing his forehead. He was out cold.

Then the song began. Calling to her Doctor, luring him in. To see him in that much pain was disturbing for her, but at least the song wouldn't lasso him in like before.

She hoped.

Because she couldn't do this without him.

* * *

Slowly the Doctor rose to consciousness, feeling someone holding him, but something was different. Something weird...

He opened his eyes to find Rose looking down at him, concerned.

"Did it work?" he asked, though he wasn't sure if he had. He'd felt his voice box definitely vibrate but no sound seemed to come out.

"You tell me," Rose replied soundlessly, he was reading her lips. He concentrated for a moment, brow furrowed as he listened. There was only silence, like the entire world had been put on mute. Not even the wind. No birds. Nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

"I'm deaf," he said. At least, he was _hoping_ he'd said it.

"The song started," Rose informed him.

He nodded in acknowledgement. "Let's find Jack and the Kailans."

She helped him to his feet, supporting him whilst his sense of balance righted itself. After a moment he nodded and she took his hand.

"Take me to the sound," he said simply.

* * *

"Well, this was a bit predictable," the Doctor said, staring up at the extravagant temple-like construct in major need of some repair standing before them. The source of the sound. "Let's go and say hi."

Rose nodded, squeezing his hand before stepping forward towards the temple entrance, leading him up the half caved in steps to emerge into a grand room, moss and thorns growing over everything, the walls and pillars partially crumbled. Ruins. But at the end of the room sat three life-forms - humanoid women as the top half, with light blue skin almost emitting their own glow, with the bottom half the legs of birds with claws for feet. Feathery white wings were on their backs and they all played the different instruments of the song, and Rose noticed the space where their eyes should have gone were pure white, like they were diseased...

They were blind.

The Doctor must've realised this too, as he nudged her and pressed a finger to his lips. If they made no sound, maybe they could get by undetected...

They began to navigate around the thorns and leaves strewn all over the ground, trying soundlessly to get to the adjoining door. Just a few metres. That was all...

The Time Lord among the two didn't hear the delicate object crash under his foot, but he felt it. By the time he'd turned he saw the pot he'd just knocked lying on the floor in a million pieces, and Rose looking at him in complete horror.

He looked back at the Sirens. They'd stopped playing. They were staring at him and Rose with those sightless eyes...

Then as quick as lightning one shot across the hall, ending up right next to the Doctor. He felt icy fingers grab his neck and he cried out, more in surprise than anything before a pair of fangs plunged straight into his shoulder. Something warm began to ooze from the area and he looked down to find his own blood spreading in a blossom across his shirt.

Suddenly his vision was going fuzzy, merging together in crashes of colour... he lost focus of Rose, of the Siren that had bitten him, and he was so tired. He could just... sleep...

He didn't hear Rose scream his name as he collapsed to the floor, out cold.


	21. Triple Chocolate Fudge Sundae

**A/N: **2200 words and it's one scene. And I could've gone on even longer! I'm sure that's a bad writing technique.

And for the overseas of you, I'm pretty sure you don't have Angel Delight but be assured it's a very yummy dessert :D

* * *

Chapter 21 - Triple Chocolate Fudge Sundae

The Doctor woke up, and immediately wished he hadn't. His head was throbbing, his shoulder was burning and he couldn't feel his limbs...

He opened his eyes to a blurry world, having to blink a few times to try and focus until he realised he was staring at Jack, and Jack was saying something...

"Doctor? Doctor? Doctor!"

Well, he could've guessed that _without _lip reading.

"What, what, what?" he murmured, groaning and trying to lift his head but it wouldn't comply.

"You all right?"

"Do I _look _all right?" he asked, slightly sarcastically. "Where are we? Where's Rose?"

"I have no idea where we are, and I have no idea where Rose is," Jack replied, pulling a face. "Sorry."

The Doctor grunted a manly grunt of agitation, making to push himself up onto his elbows but his muscles felt like jelly. And why did his head hurt so much? He felt so cold, weak... his _head..._

Suddenly his arm exploded with pain and he abruptly cried out, taking Jack completely by surprise. He curled in on his arm yelling in pain, feeling as though a thousand knives were being dug into his arm...

Jack was obviously yelling at him but he couldn't hear. Instead he was trying in vain to suppress the pain with endorphins but it was having absolutely no effect...

Then suddenly it stopped, and the pain in his head and arm completely disappearing. He panted for a few moments, pulling his arm away from his chest – but something caught his eye.

"Umm... Doctor..." Jack began. Evidently he had noticed. "Did your hand used to be blue?"

The Doctor stared at his hand, utterly wrongfooted. It had turned blue. He pulled up his sleeve to find in fact his entire left arm was blue. Feeling had come back to his limbs now so he unbuttoned his shirt to reveal the shoulder bite... and quickly it became apparently that whatever was happening had originated from there.

Then he realised Jack was talking to him and he looked up to lip read.

"What is that? Doctor? Why aren't you answering?"

"I made myself deaf," the Doctor replied calmly. "So I can't hear the song. Rose has the sonic and I need that to make myself hear again."

"Oh… How did you get here, then?"

The Doctor gestured to his shoulder. "I knocked a pot flying and one bit me on the shoulder, then I collapsed..."

"And this is an infection," Jack reasoned.

"No... I think..." The Doctor pushed himself up to sitting position, examining his bite wound carefully. "This is a genetic overwrite."

"You mean..."

"Yeah, the bite from the Siren is overwriting my DNA with it's own. If I let it I'll... become one of them," the Doctor finished, frowning.

"Right," Jack muttered.

"But I can reverse it," the Doctor assured him. "My immune system will take care of that."

"Right, good," Jack nodded, happy. "The blue would look great on you, but I don't think the bird feet would fit in your converse."

The Doctor grinned, getting to his feet and redoing his shirt before gazing around the area, a little confused. They were standing in a wide open space. "Why don't you just walk out?"

"Check it out," was Jack's simple reply as he lifted his hand to the air in front of them. Blue crackling energy suddenly spread out from under his touch, form a flat, impenetrable surface.

"Oh yes!" the Doctor exclaimed, sounding dead pleased with himself. "A holding pen made up of psychokinetic energy, nothing sentient can get in or out without the creator's help. I said it at the start, being of intense psychic capabilities."

"They're not bad hosts either," Jack continued, pointing the Doctor in the direction of a table within the holding pen, absolutely stocked full of food. "An all you can eat buffet that's constantly full."

The Doctor's eyes widened. "Wow!" and he was off again, bounding across the floor - evidently feeling a lot better after his attempted DNA overwrite. "That is _so _impressive!" He picked up an apple, red, shiny and very juicy-looking, holding it up to Jack. "What is this?"

"It's an apple," Jack answered, wondering slightly if the Doctor had lost it.

"Wrong!" the Doctor chimed, finger in the air. "It's another psychic trick. It's a sustenance chew with a simple perception of memory filter."

Jack stared. "Come again?"

"The Sirens are manipulating our perception of this through our own memory responses. This is basically a white nougat-thing responding to your brain and taking the appearance of something familiar and appealing to you, making you feel comfortable with eating it... And it's individual to each person's responses. You say it's an apple, I say it's a triple chocolate fudge sundae."

Jack frowned. "I wanna see a triple chocolate fudge sundae," he complained.

"Close your eyes and make a wish!" the Doctor whispered, grinning.

Jack did so, closing his eyes and picturing a triple chocolate fudge sundae with every remnant of his being. When he opened his eyes he found instead that the Doctor was holding a chocolate-flavoured Angel Delight.

"Did it work?" the Doctor asked.

"Good enough!" Jack replied happily, grabbing the Angel Delight the Doctor was holding and wolfing it down. "So, these nougat things," he began through a mouthful of food. "What are they?"

"They contain all the essential vitamins and whatnot to keep the average person going for a whole day in one tiny square. It's compact food. People usually stock them in the thousands for long trips; they take up barely any room."

"And the Sirens are doing this to..." Jack paused, pulling the Angel Delight quickly away from his mouth and staring at it in complete mortification. "... Fatten us up."

The Doctor snorted with laughter at the look of horror on Jack's face. "I don't think they want to eat us."

Jack visibly relaxed, and commenced eating again. "What then?"

"I don't know," the Doctor mused. "But I'll find out. Enjoy your Angel Delight," he said, waving a goodbye before he stuck his hands in his pockets and wandered off into the crowd.

He moved through the milling men, most of them Kailans but there were a few others too. Most of them looked disheartened, exhausted, and at the far end of the pen he found a Kailan male lying against the psychic barrier, obviously in a fair amount of pain. He moved over to the man, kneeling down next to him and offering a small smile.

"Are you okay?" the Doctor asked in the Kailan language.

"Get away from me!" the male replied rudely in Kailan, trying to shove the Doctor away but couldn't seem to muster the strength to lift his arms.

The Doctor regarded him sadly. "Let me help."

"No."

"You're obviously hurt and need medical care," the Doctor said gently but firmly. "Let me help."

After a momentary pause the male finally resigned, letting the Doctor examine him.

"What's your name?" the Doctor asked, checking his wounds. There were deep slices around his left arm and torso, dried purple blood on his clothes.

"Geron," the man replied, wincing as the Doctor continued to examine him.

"Did you come with my friend?" the Time Lord asked, pointing to Jack standing across the other side of the pen currently with dessert splattered all around his mouth.

"I can't remember," Geron replied in a half gasp. "I know you, though. You were in our camp."

The Doctor nodded. "You did, then." He indicated the tears in Geron's skin. "These are the work of a Wildwood Widowmaker. You're lucky to be alive."

"I don't _feel_ lucky," Geron replied, offering a pained smile.

The Doctor grinned back. "A whole group of you were attacked when you broke out from the holding pen. I'm sorry, but there was a lot of blood," he said quietly.

"You came after?" Geron wondered. The Doctor nodded. "Then you got caught?"

"I took all the precautions, made myself deaf, the works. Then I tripped over a pot and I end up here. But the _really_ funny thing is I was trying to save you all."

Geron laughed. "So these things are going to kill us," he muttered suddenly.

The Doctor thought about it for a moment. "I'm not sure."

"I think they are. Maybe for sport, I dunno. But I won't get very far."

"I won't let you or anyone here get hurt," the Doctor assured him. "That's the best I can do," he said as the he pulled back, finished with his first aid. "Take it easy, Geron."

Geron nodded. "Thank you."

The Doctor got onto his feet and sketched a half wave of farewell to Geron before scouring the crowd. There was a Peroxon in amongst all of the Kailans, huddled into a corner, talking to himself. Intrigued, the Doctor made towards him.

"Hello!" the Doctor greeted, seamlessly switching from the Kailan language to Peroxon.

The Peroxon looked extremely surprised. "You... You can understand me?"

"You're a Peroxon," the Doctor said simply, taking a seat beside the man. "I like your language. Lots of whistles and whirly bits."

The Peroxon sat up within seconds, staring at the Doctor. "I can't believe you can speak my language... Nobody here knows my language."

The Doctor smiled at him. "What's your name?"

"Sela," the man replied. "Who are you?"

"I'm the Doctor," the Time Lord informed him. "How long have you been here?"

"I lost count of the years," Sela murmured. "All my friends are gone."

"Gone?" the Doctor repeated. "Gone where?"

"They took them..."

"The Sirens?"

Sela nodded. "They all went insane through the confinement and the things took them away... I've never seen them since. Now it's just me."

The Doctor frowned. "You don't know why they took them?"

Sela paused. "... Maybe."

"Tell me."

"Reproduction," Sela muttered. "They lure men here and feed us, take us away so we can help them reproduce..."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "What makes you think that?"

"It's obvious, isn't it? It's only men, it doesn't affect women. Did you come alone?"

"No, my wife... Well, not wife, just kinda..."

"Do you know where she is?"

The Doctor swallowed nervously. "No."

"They don't want women," Sela said. "Just men, so we can give them offspring. They'll have no use for your wife. They'll kill her." Then he stopped, looking at the floor. "I just want to go home."

"I know," the Doctor said gently. "I'll find a way, I promise."

"You?" Sela wondered, sounding a little unconvinced.

"Yeah, trust me, I've got a history," the Doctor replied, grinning as he got up again. "I'll see you around, Sela."

Sela nodded. "Come and talk to me again."

The Doctor nodded, and left back to go to Jack who was now busy having a drink.

"What you drinking?" the Doctor asked as he reached him.

"Beer!" Jack replied happily.

"It won't get you drunk," the Doctor informed him. "It takes on the appearance and taste of beer, not the effect."

Jack stopped, staring at the glass. "What the hell is the point of that?" With a sigh he set the glass back down on the table and turned to the Time Lord. "So what you got, Sherlock?"

"I just took two steps back," the Doctor replied with a sigh. "You thought they're going to eat us? Well a Kailan thinks that we're going to be hunted for sport and a Peroxon thinks we're going to be used for reproduction. No one knows. I need to talk to the Sirens to get to the bottom of this, and I need to find Rose."

Jack nodded. "So what's the plan?"

The Doctor sighed, gazing around at the piles of delicious-looking food on the table and taking a satsuma, throwing it in the air a few times before catching it. "I'm going to have lunch."

"Part of the plan?" Jack asked, voice full of confidence.

"No, I'm hungry."


	22. I'm Feeling Blue

**A/N: **Since I took so long with the last chapter, here's another. :P

Oh and please, **Kings of Kings**, since you're anon I can't reply to you but you seem to have misinterpreted what I wrote. The line "I'm becoming human" in chapter 10 was more of a reference to his human-like emotions and COMPLETELY not physical, I thought that would've carried through from the fact he just confessed his love for Rose and that's not usually an emotion he'd allow himself to express, and that he finds it quite a human emotion. Also the fact Rose laughs after he says it. I don't think she would've laughed if he meant physically :o Sorry, that was my bad. I've done it before and you're the first person that's misinterpreted that in that way :o

* * *

Chapter 22 – I'm Feeling Blue

Morning turned into afternoon, afternoon into evening and evening into night, and the Doctor still hadn't thought of any form of escape plan. So while the rest of the group of men hammered on the psychic walls trying to find a way out in the unrelenting grip of the song he was bravely cowered beneath the buffet table trying not to get trampled.

He tried over and over to communicate through his mind with Rose, even her low-level telepathic abilities should've been able to pick him up and reply through the bond connection – but he was getting nothing but silence back. He'd even tried communicating with the Sirens themselves but their psychic powers were far too a high level for him to establish a connection.

There was nothing he could do, stuck in this cage whilst Jack was out of control and Rose could be anywhere, doing anything. And the fact she wasn't replying was making him even more paranoid. Something had happened to her. He just didn't know what...

For the first time in his life, he was feeling a little hopeless. But he kept trying.

He felt hours pass. The only form of light here were the torches on the walls; they were so far underground it was functioning as both night and day. The only sign that night had ended was when someone tapped him on shoulder and he turned to find Jack looking at him, concerned.

"Any luck?"

The Doctor shook his head. "She's not answering."

"She'll be okay."

After a few moments the Doctor nodded, accepting a hand up from Jack. Jack could see his expression, a man on the verge of defeat.

"Hey." He rested a reassuring hand on the Time Lord's shoulder. "She can handle herself."

He nodded again, giving a half smile. A smile that quickly died when he suddenly went completely rigid, a hiccup of surprise escaping from his throat...

"Doctor?" Jack asked, but the Doctor was panicking, an incredible sense of foreboding washing over him before a dull pain flared up beneath his eyes and he gasped, blinking erratically. Quickly it died – but he already knew what had happened.

"Rose!"

"What?"

"Something's happened!" the Doctor said quickly, quite plaintively panicking. "Her eyes... something's happened to her eyes..."

Jack stared at him, open-mouthed. "What?" he said again.

"I have to find her!" Then the Time Lord was off like a shot, moving around the psychic barrier, trying desperately to find a way out. Even though he already knew that there was no way to get out, he knew he _had_ to try. He was the Doctor. He could do anything. _He could do anything..._

Jack knew there was no point. "Doctor..." he began, but the Doctor was completely ignoring him, bouncing around the cell for any hint of a way out. He was throwing himself at the wall with completely ignorance to his injuries but the barrier harmlessly bounced him back every time.

"ROSE!" he screamed at the top of his lungs, hammering on the wall. He could feel her distress and pain through the bond and he could think of nothing else but getting to her, protecting her...

Everyone in the cell was staring at him now, but he didn't care. The only thing he cared about was finding Rose... And she was in trouble, along with his children. The want to find her quickly turned into frustration, then to anger that he couldn't get out. The barrier was completely impenetrable and he couldn't get to her...

"ROSE!" he screamed again. He was going to cry. He could feel her. She wanted to cry... so he wanted to cry. "TALK TO ME!"

Nothing. Silence in his mind.

She was crying, so he was crying. He couldn't stop it. Tears ran down his face, his fists hammering against the wall until he finally lost the little energy he had remaining and dropped to the floor, head buried in his arms. His hearts were hurting. _She_ was hurting. And he couldn't do anything about it.

Jack knew when to be sensitive. He figured it must be the bond thing provoking the Doctor's behaviour like this so he sat down next to the Time Lord and embraced him, giving comfort if nothing else. For a few minutes the Doctor remained silent, so he did too, waiting for the Time Lord to speak. When it finally came, it was just a croak.

"This is all my fault."

Jack tightened his hug. "No, it's not."

"Yeah, let's go to Kaila! To the Cha'po island!" the Doctor said in mock enthusiasm, still trying to swallow back tears. "It's pretty! Nothing can go wrong there! It'll be great!" He sighed, voice lowering again. "She's going to die. With my children. Because of me."

Jack had never seen him act like this before, and wasn't really sure what to do. "No, it's my fault. I got us lost. I forced you and Rose to come to the island to look for me."

The Doctor obviously wasn't believing it.

Jack sighed. "Look," he began. "Maybe it is your fault. But if it's your fault, it's definitely mine too. And Rose's. It was a combined effort of fault to make one massive catastrophe."

The Doctor grinned slightly, but the moment was quickly lost when a Kailan suddenly came up to them, looking slightly anxious. Jack tapped the Doctor on the shoulder and pointed up, and Time Lord's gaze followed.

"Geron's asking for you," the Kailan informed him. He pushed himself up and followed the Kailan to the other side of the cage where he found Geron lying on the floor, eyes closed, completely tensed.

"Geron?" the Doctor asked, kneeling down next to him. Geron looked up, his face scrunched up in pain.

"It hurts," Geron gasped. The Doctor checked his wounds – they were quite clearly infected. If he didn't get medical treatment soon he would most certainly die.

"Your wounds are infected," the Doctor told him gently. "I'm sorry, I have no medical supplies..."

Geron offered a weak smile. "Back at the camp," he began, breathing shallowly. "I have a mate, her name's Velayna. When you get back, please tell her that I love her, that I'm sorry I couldn't get back."

The Doctor's eyebrows lowered, opening his mouth to reply, but Geron cut over him.

"And my two children, Hilo and Fees, please tell them I love them too, and to be good."

"You can tell them yourself," the Doctor said straight. "You're not going to die."

Geron laughed. "I think we both know already how long I've got."

"I won't let you die," the Doctor reiterated, unperturbed. "No matter what you think. You'll see them again, I promise. I don't break promises."

Suddenly the door opened. The Doctor's head snapped up to the entrance of the room the cell was in, and found a Siren was walking down towards them, slow and calm. Within seconds he was on his feet, bounding up to the wall of the pen instantly.

"Hey!" he yelled.

The Siren seemed to completely ignore him. She continued to walk at the same pace towards the cell's psychic field.

"Siren!" the Doctor yelled again, trying desperately to get her attention. "Is that your name? What do you want? I can help!"

She was walking towards him, but made no indication that he actually existed.

"Answer me!" he demanded. "Tell me what you want! Where's Rose?"

She wasn't heading for him. She was going to where Geron was laid on the floor next to the wall. She seemingly walked through the barrier with complete ease, took Geron by the arm and took him back out of the cell back towards the entrance.

"Where are you taking him?" The Doctor was still attempting to get a response but to no avail. Just as she was about to disappear out of the door the Doctor quickly snapped his fingers to his temples and concentrated with all his might to try and talk to the Siren. Maybe the close proximity could boost the connection...

He wrenched open his eyes again. The Siren had stopped moving. He had got through? He put his fingers to his temples and tried for a conversation...

But when he looked up, the Siren was passing through the door.

"No!" he yelled. "Come back!"

She was gone, taking Geron with her.

Jack reached the Doctor, who was looking slightly deflated, still staring at the place the Siren had been.

"I'm not used to being ignored," the Doctor muttered, still staring ahead before he suddenly turned to Jack and instantaneously began to talk at a million miles per hour. Jack managed to catch the words, 'interference', 'psychics' and 'Jack' before he quickly held up a hand, silencing the Time Lord quickly.

"Doctor. Slower. Please?"

The Doctor stared at him as though he'd just dribbled on his shirt before he took a breath, and repeated what he had said a lot slower.

"I got through! At least, I think I did anyway. Maybe as interference. But that's the way to talk to them Jack, you see? They talk as psychics, in their heads, I just don't have enough telepathic power, even in close proximity. I know what I have to do!"

"What?"

The Doctor held up his hand. It was still blue. "This."

Jack stared at him. "Not following you..."

"It's not too late. The genetic overwrite isn't completely reversed. I can suppress my immune system and..." He paused. "... Let it take effect."

"Turn into one of them?" Jack gaped.

"It's the only way. I'll be one of them, I'll be able to walk out of this cell, I'll be able to communicate with them, find out their motive and fix all this."

"But... is it reversible?"

"I don't know," the Doctor admitted quietly. "But it's the only thing I can do. The only thing I can do to save Rose and free these people."

Jack sighed, every neuron in his brain disagreeing with the Doctor's plans. But he could only resign to him. "Okay. What do I do?"

The Doctor smiled. "Thanks, Jack."

* * *

Jack looked after the Doctor as best he could.

The Time Lord had let the genetic overwrite take control and consequently he was suffering for it. Within hours he was convulsing and coughing and slipping in and out of consciousness, sweaty and completely delirious. Jack sat by his side all day, giving him water and food and making sure he was comfortable.

A few more hours passed before the Doctor began to physically change. His skin was turning blue, the skin around his feet looking dry and cracked. Whenever the Doctor rolled onto his back he would instantly cry out in pain and move off of it, and when Jack checked he found two points between his shoulder blades red and swelling at an alarming rate.

He hated it when he realised that the song would start at any moment, and he'd be mindless for hours. The Doctor _needed_ him to look after him, but he had absolutely _no _choice. All he could do was make sure the Doctor was comfortable before he straightened to full height, waiting for it to take effect.

The song began, and the Doctor was left vulnerable, ill and alone in the hundreds of men screaming to be let out.

* * *

Jack found the Doctor in the same place the next morning, trembling and sweating, curled up on the floor. His breathing was quiet and disjointed in short, punctuating gasps, his eyes closed to the world around him. Jack tried shaking him but he only got a grunt of response. Jack checked his hearts and they were palpitating badly, thumping at an alarmingly fast rate.

The swells on his back were now cracked lumps of skin the size of tennis balls. Jack had no idea what they were. An infection under the skin? On the spine? Either way they seems to be causing the Doctor an extreme amount of pain for Jack to be touching them so he rolled the Doctor onto his side, pillowing his head in his lap.

The Kailans were trying to talk to him; probably asking what was wrong with the Doctor. But he couldn't understand a word they were saying, so usually the conversation lasted the whole of two minutes comprised of elaborate hand gestures on both sides.

The Doctor hadn't told Jack how long this would go on for. He'd only said to keep him fed and watered every hour throughout the process to avoid an energy deficit and possible organ collapse at the end of it. So he did. He forced water and food down the Doctor's throat every hour even when the Time Lord quite clearly didn't want it, unconsciously trying to shove Jack away and spit it back up. On one occasion he even threw it back up, and that's when Jack knew this was far more serious than the Doctor had originally anticipated. Their biological process meant Gallifreyans quite literally _couldn't_ throw up. His entire body was breaking down.

He checked the Doctor's hearts again. Only one was beating. Barely. For the first time he wondered if the Doctor would actually make it through this...

Hours passed before the Doctor lapsed into a coma, and not of the healing variety. He'd stopped shaking, stopped moving, stopped doing anything that seemed to indicate he was alive. Jack had to keep checking he was actually breathing.

He was fast becoming unrecognisable. His skin was completely blue now, his lips snow white and his skin as cold as ice. Even his hands were different - his nails gone and replaced with pointed stumps of one thumb and three fingers. Though he still had his head-hair, the hair on his arms, chest and legs had gone. His teeth were different too, all pointed and sharp like they were all incisors.

Pretty soon it was that time again, and Jack found himself feeling anger. The Doctor could die overnight. He could stop breathing and Jack would be too busy screaming his head off to notice.

Then the door of the room opened and a Siren appeared, walking in the same calm manner as before towards the cell. She was coming straight towards Jack... or rather, the man in his arms.

"Wait..." Jack began as he realised what was going to happen, but anything he did wouldn't have any effect.

The Siren passed through the wall and took the Doctor's arm, pulling him with ease out of Jack's blood-stopping grip. Jack launched to his feet immediately, trying to follow the Siren out the cell but the psychic wall bounced him back. He made a lunge for the Doctor's leg still not through the wall but it was covered in the same psychic field, making him impossible to touch or grasp...

"No!" Jack yelled, following the Siren around the outside of the wall. "Give him back! Please!"

The Siren had barely reached the door when the song took effect and Jack began his nightly routine, completely forgetting about the Doctor.


	23. Baby, Bye Bye Bye

**A/N: **I wrote this in the very early hours when I should've been in bed. I wanted a change of scene. My proofreader informs me it works quite well since I had the future Doctor earlier in the story. So here we go...

"And now for something... completely different."

* * *

Chapter 23 – Baby, Bye Bye Bye

**One Year Later...**

"Get him!"

"Whoa!" the Doctor exclaimed, looking down from the middle of the wall he was scaling twenty metres to the ground where a lot of angry aliens were staring up at him, absolutely furious. "Don't like the look of them, much. Don't think down's an option. What d'you think, Emma?"

The baby sitting on his back in the baby carrier giggled. "Ba," she said.

"Me either," the Doctor agreed, nodding. "Oh well, onwards and upwards!"

He continued to climb up the wall, grasping window ledges and wall cracks alike as fast as he could to get to the roof of the building. Emma was still giggling, waving her little arms and legs about and attempting to grab onto the back of her Father's coat.

He finally made it to the top, clambering over the edge and lying panting on the ground for a moment.

Then there was a very distinct click, and he looked up to find one of the alien residents holding a rifle to his face.

"Get up," the alien hissed.

The Doctor obliged quickly, pushing himself up onto two feet with his hands in the air.

"Do you know what you've done?" the alien demanded angrily, thrusting the gun in his face again.

"Put a tyrant out of power and restored world peace?" the Doctor wondered.

"I can't let you do this!" the alien screamed, finger resting on the trigger, making to pull...

Suddenly the tinny sound of an Earth pop song exploded into the air, muffled but quite clear...

_'Don't wanna be a fool for you!'_

The alien stopped, looking around in confusion as did the Doctor.

_'Just another player in your game for two!'_

Then the Doctor realised that it was actually coming from him. His pocket. It was his phone. The phone Jackie had given to him last Christmas and demanded he use now he and Rose had the twins.

_'Coz you may hate me, but it ain't no lie, baby bye bye bye!'_

The Doctor broadened a smile at the alien pointing a gun in his face, gesturing down to his jacket pocket embarrassed.

_'Don't really wanna make it tough!'_

"Sorry," he said, reaching down slowly and obviously. "That's me. Let me get that.."

_'I just wanna tell you that I've had enough!'_

He dug into his pocket, and pulled out the small device, staring at the name on the screen.

_'Might sound crazy but it ain't no lie...'_

Jackie. Figured.

_'Baby bye bye b-'_

He pressed the green button, holding it to his ear.

"Hello, Jackie!" he said as enthusiastically as he could.

"_Where are you?" _The voice screeched on the other end, almost blowing out his eardrum. He winced, before flashing a smile at the alien still standing in front of him holding the gun, completely bewildered.

"Me?" The Doctor blinked. Quick. Think. Now! "Oh... Me and Rose are in the TARDIS, just getting the twins up."

Emma suddenly wailed from over his shoulder and he reached over with his free hand to pat her back. "Good morning Emma, did you sleep well?" he directed down the phone.

"_You're an hour late!"_

"Yeah the twins kept us up all last night..." the Doctor lied outright. "We'll be there in ten minutes."

"_What's all that noise?"_

The Doctor pursed his lips, listening to his surroundings for a moment. Warning sirens. Screaming. Helicopters. Some mild explosions.

"James Bond movie," he answered.

"_Turn it off!" _Jackie yelled down the phone. "_You're subjecting them to violence at an early age!"_

"Yep, I'll get right onto that," he answered, looking back at the alien. He seemed to be getting slightly impatient. "I've gotta go, Jackie. I'll see you in ten minutes."

He pressed the red button, cutting her off in mid flow. Putting the phone back in his pocket he looked back at the alien and gave one of his most dazzling grins. "I'm sorry, where were we? Ah yes, you were going to shoot me. Now, where was I stood? Here?" He shuffled to the side slightly, hands in his pockets, checking his footing. "Yeah, I think I was here." He stopped for a moment, staring at the alien, eyebrows lowered. "I don't remember you being stood there, though. Weren't you a little closer? No, wait..." The Doctor moved forward and took both of the alien's shoulders, pushing him slightly to the right. "That seem okay to you? Okay, let me get back to where I was. I had my hands in the air..." He stuck his hands in the air and nodded. "Okay, that's perfect. Resume!"

And like that, he lowered the hand with the sonic screwdriver in, buzzed, and the gun fell apart in the alien's hands. The alien gasped and stumbled backwards in surprise as the Doctor ran straight past him towards the service stairs, slamming the door behind him and locking it with the sonic.

He raced down the stairs, Emma bouncing all over the place on his back, giggling madly. He could hear the alien struggling with the door, it was only a matter of time before he got through...

_'Don't wanna be a fool for you!'_

The Doctor groaned and dug into his pocket again, making a mental note to change his ringtone before he saw the name on screen. It was Rose.

"Hello?" he asked as he continued to race down the stairs.

"_Did Mum just phone you?"_

"Yeah," he replied, hearing a loud crack from above. He glanced up the middle of the stairwell to find the angry alien had broken through and was in hot pursuit. "She phone you too?"

"_Yep," _Rose replied.

"What did you tell her?"

"_Getting the twins up, watching James Bond."_

"Great minds!" the Doctor enthused, checking the alien's distance. Closer, now... "I've nearly run off the mob. You got Kai?"

"_Yeah. Sludge monster got tired of chasing me. Not anywhere near the station, are you?"_

"In the car park."

"_Take cover, quick!"_

The Doctor quickly ducked into a wall indent, bracing himself before a massive explosion suddenly ripped across the building, sending glass from the windows everywhere with the ground shaking beneath his feet. When it was over he quickly checked Emma, but a burble and a giggle told him she was all right.

"_Still here?"_

"Yep, where am I headed?"

"_Jack's meeting with us in the park."_

"Okay, I'll be there in five minutes," he replied, checking up the stairwell again. The building had lost its integrity, it was about to collapse at any moment... and he could still see the angry alien, obviously having survived the explosion as he was still running down the stairs after the Doctor, yelling with rage. The Doctor turned on his heel, and carried on down the stairs. "Oh, what did you want for dinner tonight?"

"_I don't mind. Maybe takeaway?"_

"Sure. Chinese?" he suggested, evading a bit of collapsing ceiling in front of him.

"_Sounds good! I'll see you in five. Love you."_

He reached the door of the stairwell, pulling it open and bolting through just as it collapsed behind him. "Love you too, bye!"

"_Bye!"_

He ran through the street, the phone still pressed to his ear. After a moment she laughed.

"_You didn't hang up!"_

"Neither did you!" he countered, grinning.

"_Hang up, then!"_

"No, you hang up!"

"_No, you!"_

"Oh I'm so not getting into this," the Doctor said, rolling his eyes. "BYE!"

* * *

He reached the central square, seeing Rose standing waiting in the centre. They met in a kiss and a tight hug.

"You all right?" the Doctor asked, looking her up and down. She nodded, beaming before he took Kai out of the carrier on her back and held him tightly, Rose doing the same with Emma. "Hello Kai, you all right?"

Kai giggled, a bit of dribble rolling down his chin.

"Good," the Doctor replied, kissing him on the forehead. He looked up, searching their surroundings. "Where's Jack?"

"Coming."

As soon as she'd said it a massive tank suddenly rolled out from behind one of the buildings, turning and rolling towards them before stopping metres from where they stood. Rose and the Doctor both gaped as the top opened and Jack sprung out like a Jack-in-a-box, arms in the air, a big grin on his face.

"I got a tank!" he yelled happily.

* * *

The ceremony wasn't huge; more of a personal gathering between friends in the great hall. The new King had insisted on knighting them all, Kai and Emma included, thanking them for all they had done.

"Thank you, Doctor, Jack, Rose, you've saved our planet!" the King bowed to each of them in turn, shaking their hands individually. "And little Kai and Emma, of course," he finished, smiling at the infant in the Doctor's arms.

The Doctor beamed. "It was a pleasure, your Highness."

"Is there anything you want in return?"

"No, thank you," the Doctor replied, bowing. "We'll just be off, now."

"Are you sure?" the King seemed disappointed. "There's a feast later to celebrate our new world."

The Doctor nodded. "I'm sure. I have a mother-in-law."

The King laughed. "I understand. Farewell, may Penaq bless you all."

* * *

"Does this make me Dame Dame Rose?" Rose wondered as they made their way back to the TARDIS sitting where they had left it in a field near the city. The Doctor shook his head.

"Actually it's not Dame or Sir, here. It's Hiipax and Laomoz. You're Hiipax Dame Rose."

Rose grinned. "Thank you, Laomoz Sir Doctor."

"When did you get knighted before?" Jack wondered.

"Queen Victoria," Rose replied.

"Werewolf," the Doctor continued. "Sorted that out, got a knighthood for it. Then got banished."

"On the same day?"

"In the same minute," the Doctor corrected as Rose laughed. "And," the Doctor continued, looking down at Kai still in his arms. "Laomoz Kai and Hiipax Emma." As soon as he'd said the words, he noticed his hand. It was blue. Bright blue. What?

Rose and Jack were staring too, eyes wide. "Doctor..." Jack began.

"Noticed, thanks," the Doctor muttered, blinking. Why was his hand blue?

Unless...

Kai was fading from his arms. His eyes widened and he looked up at Rose, but she was fading too, along with Emma. So was Jack. And... so was he. He couldn't feel the weight of Kai in his arms anymore...

"Rose, Jack!" he yelled, able to see vague outlines of them in front of him.

"Doctor what's happening?" Rose yelled, both her and Jack trying to grab onto him but it was as though they were all ghosts.

"We're disappearing..." the Doctor said. "... From existence. Something's happened in our past that wasn't supposed to and we're disappearing from this timeline!"

"Like what?" Jack asked, frantic, but his voice was echoed and distance, fading along with him...

"It's the Sirens!" the Doctor yelled back. He could barely hear himself now. "Something happened with Sirens!"

"But what?"

The Doctor swallowed. "Maybe we died..."

"But I can't die!" Jack yelled. "Doctor?"

"Doctor!" Rose screamed, but he could barely hear it. He couldn't see her. He tried reaching out but only grasped at thin air.

"Rose!"

"Doctor!"

"Jack!"

"Doctor!"

Then they were gone.


	24. The Plot Thickens

**A/N: **Hope everyone had a great Christmas, and lookign forward to an alcoholic New Year.

Back to whumpage.

* * *

Chapter 24 -The Plot Thickens

_"Keep going! Keep trying!"_

"_Let me out!"_

"_Velayna..."_

"_I need to go!"_

"_Help me!"_

"_They've got to be there!"_

"_HELP!"_

The Doctor awoke with a gasp, shooting up to sitting position with voices _screaming _inside his head. Pain was shooting through his skull so badly he actually thought he'd been shot in the head...

"_Help me!"_

"_Let me go!"_

"_They've got to be there!"_

"_They'll find us!"_

"_Doctor..."_

Rose? Was that Rose? He couldn't tell, he couldn't answer, he couldn't even think. The back of his eyes were burning and his head fell like it was about to explode... Something warm dribbled out of his nose and through the pain he wiped it, lifting his shaky hand to meet his eyes... it was blood. He was having a nosebleed... wait, why was his blood lime green? His hands blue?

"_Don't forget... don't forget..."_

"_This is crazy!"_

"_What have I done?"_

"_Stop him... stop him..."_

"_FOCUS!"_

Wait. He was a Siren. His body had allowed the genetic overwrite as much as it needed to be, which meant he had their blood, their skin... and their telepathic capabilities. And it was killing him. His entire brain was overloading, shutting down. It was too much. He wasn't used to it; he couldn't handle it...

"Help!" he screamed, eyes tightly shut, curled into the foetal position with tears running down his cheeks. "Help me!"

"_Doctor..."_

"_GET OUT OF MY WAY!"_

"_Where are they?"_

"_Velayna..."_

"_It hurts..."_

Then suddenly there was a new voice in amongst the screaming, louder than them all but remained perfect calm and collected.

"_Calm down, take deep breaths."_

He did so, shuddering through his own tears of pain. He felt cold hands resting on his face and moments later the voices receded, retreating back to whispers in his mind like they usually were. He blinked a few times, raising his head to see a Siren standing in front of him.

"Thank you," he gasped. She stared at him, tilting her head in confusion. Then he realised. _"Thank you," _he repeated in his mind.

She smiled gently, but there was a hint of sadness. _"We are sorry this has happened to you."_

He frowned. _"What?"_

"_It was a reflex action from Gyria, she could not control it, and we could not stop her."_

"_You mean she bit me."_

She nodded. _"You surprised us. We thought you were a threat. We never meant to hurt you."_

The Doctor blinked. He hadn't been expecting that. _"I don't understand."_

The Siren shifted uncomfortably. _"It is not our fault. But you are the first victim to survive the bite. We helped you and kept you alive."_

Victim? That was a weird word to use... What did that mean? The people in the holding cell? What made them victims?_ "Where's Rose? Is she a victim too?"_

The Siren looked confused.

"_The girl I came here with," _he clarified. _"Blonde. Great eyes. Very adorable."_

"_Your soulmate?"_

The Doctor blinked, the word coming as a surprise. _"If that's your culture, then yeah."_

The Siren looked at him sadly, lifting her hand to rest on his chest where his double hearts still beat. _"She carries your children."_

"_Which is why you're going to tell me where she is," _the Doctor said firmly.

She looked away, as if she was ashamed... _"I'm sorry."_

The Doctor was alert instantly. _"What? Where is she?"_

The Siren swallowed, backing away towards the door. _"I... I... I have to go."_

"_Hey!" _He jumped to his feet, making to run through the door after her, but it was already shut and locked. _"Tell me where she is!" _he screamed both verbally and in his mind, hammering on the door repeatedly... but no one was listening.

No one at all.

"Rose..." he croaked, stumbling backwards and staring at the impenetrable door.

Metal door.

Metal sliding door.

Wait a minute.

For the first time he actually registered where he was standing. The room was a medical room, no doubt about that, high-tech, very metal and very white. Definitely not the broken-down temple where he and Rose had arrived, or where the men were being held. It was... a spaceship. It had to be.

The Siren's ship? If he hadn't been transported here by transmat then this was a ship on the island. But where had it been? The island wasn't exactly big, and he was pretty sure he would've noticed a spaceship sitting in the middle of it. But at least it confirmed something... the Sirens were not of this world. Had they crashed? There didn't seem to be any signs of damage. At least, not here anyway.

He had to get out of this room, find Rose, find Jack, free the men and find out what exactly the Sirens were doing luring in men left, right and centre. All in a day's work.

There was a handscan next to the door. Probably needed a Siren handprint. Wait... he _was _a Siren. He pressed his palm against the panel and the previously impenetrable metal door slid open with ease. He made to march boldly through, and almost got slingshot backwards.

Wait, what? Something was stopping him, almost like...

With a sense of trepidation he reached up to examine his back, and found that the genetic overwrite had given him a set of fully functional wings. He had wings. He... had... wings. Wings. Wiiiings.

Okay. He had wings. This was inevitable. The Sirens had wings, therefore it had always been a possibility he'd get wings in the genetic overwrite. He could deal with this. Rose would understand. Jack would too. Jackie wouldn't. But he had wings. Technically he could probably fly with them. But how was he going to deal with this?

After a few moments careful consideration, he decided to conveniently forget about his extra appendages and move sideways through the door.

He emerged into a bog-standard metal and white corridor, with doors exactly like the one he had just come from space periodically down the corridor, each door with a porthole window. He moved down the corridor, checking each window but most of them were blacked out. The ones that weren't afforded a view of another medical room like he had just come from. He was in an Infirmary wing.

"_Velayna..."_

He stopped dead in his tracks. Surely that wasn't... Geron? Calling out in his mind.

"_I'm sorry, Velayna..."_

He followed the voice to another medical room, peering through the porthole. There was Geron, lying on a bed, bandaged and cared for with IV antibiotics and treatment. The Sirens were giving him medical treatment.

The Doctor pressed his palm to the handscan by the door, but it flashed red and didn't open. Probably special access. Still, at least he knew Geron was being treated... Even if it did raise more questions than answers.

But Rose was his number one priority.

He turned from Geron's door and continued down the corridors, calling out for the human woman both verbally and in his mind.

* * *

These medical corridors were so endless he was beginning to feel like he was in some kind of spacial loop. Every time he turned a corner the same sight greeted him – the plain white corridor and the doors with porthole windows. But it was all one floor. This spaceship was absolutely huge...

He still hadn't found Rose, and she still hadn't answered. But he wasn't going to give up. The look the Siren had given him was enough to ensure that. She wasn't dead. He knew she wasn't dead. He would know if she was dead. Through the bond.

Wouldn't he?

So he kept walking, kept looking, kept hoping...

Then suddenly the bond started up, like a key in the ignition. He stopped abruptly, eyes wide, his whole body alert. It was pulling him in a direction... pulling him to Rose.

He began to run. Following the pull; down six corridors, three side doors and two more corridors until he finally found what he was looking for. A pair of swinging double doors sat at the end of a corridor, the light from inside the room bright blue through the windows. He tore down the corridor and burst through the doors to see what was inside...

"Rose!" he yelled, bounding over to a table in the centre of the insanely large room, the walls, ceiling and floors emitting a bright blue light, almost fluorescent. Sonic energy – they were making the same noise as his screwdriver. Not that he cared about that right now. He skidded to a halt next to Rose, yelling at her even though he still couldn't hear himself. She wasn't reacting, lying on the table bathed in sonic energy with her eyes closed, completely unmoving... Was she in a coma?

"Rose..." he whispered. "Rose, wake up. I'm here."

She didn't move. He checked her pulse, but she was still going strong. Her heart was beating, her breathing was regular. She was just in a coma. She...

He rested his fingers on her temple for any signs of telepathic energy...

And got nothing.

"Oh Rose..." he whispered, already knowing what that meant, but refusing to accept it. She had no brain activity... She was brain dead. Completely.

"No!" he yelled, suddenly insanely angry. "Wake up!"

Nothing.

"ROSE!" he screamed, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her roughly, trying to get a reaction... "ROSE! WAKE UP!"

Nothing.

"No..." he gasped, tears filling his eyes, cradling her in both arms. "Rose... please. Rose... wake up. Please, I need you. Please wake up. Please. You're not brain dead... you're not... you called out to me, remember? You called out..."

Maybe it hadn't been her... maybe it had been Jack...

"Rose..." He brushed back her hair from her eyes, dabbing a kiss to her lips. "I love you. Please don't... please, please talk to me..."

She didn't.

Every single brain cell was telling him she was gone. Her body was still alive, but the life had gone. But he wouldn't accept it. Not ever. She wasn't dead. He'd wait. He wait for her to wake up.

For six hours he sat on the table cradling her in his arms, stroking her face. And not once did she even so much as twitch.


	25. Talking Italics

Chapter 25 – Talking Italics

He found her backpack in the corner of the room. It still had everything in it. She'd even packed some pain medication for him in case he took a downturn.

Tears welled in his eyes at the thought.

He took some. Not so much because he was in pain, but more for stress levels. Maybe even hopefully block it all out.

It didn't.

He couldn't exactly use a backpack now what with his extra appendages, so instead he took out some of her things; her mascara, her iPod, even her sunblock. Just because. He even found the sonic, wrapped with obvious care in her beach towel. He took that too. Most of it he left – he _would_ be coming back to this room.

With his sonic in hand he moved over to Rose, took a breath, and buzzed it over her forehead.

Nothing.

When had he ever expected it to say something else?

He stared at her expressionless face for a moment, her closed eyes, her even breathing. She was beautiful in every single detail. Now he would never have the chance to tell her that. He wanted to tell her over and over and over again until she was completely sick of it. Because at least she'd know.

Had he ever told her she was beautiful? He couldn't remember.

"Rose..." He sat down on the table next to her, cupping her cheek. "I'm going to finish this, because you'd have wanted me to. But please... Give me something to fight for."

He looked down her body. One of her hands were resting on her stomach. His children. The children still growing inside her. They could still be born, even if she was brain dead. As long as her body was alive, as long as he cared for her and the growing children in every way imaginable, they _could_ actually be delivered by caesarean. He could raise them by himself, and tell them all about her. She'd have wanted that.

"Thanks," he whispered, kissing her. He drew back and held up the sonic. Time to fix his hearing. He laid down on the bright blue floor, raised the sonic to behind his ear and closed his eyes, preparing himself for what was about to come.

He pressed the button.

* * *

There was music playing. Really quite pretty music.

He opened his eyes and sat up, listening to the tune. It was the absolutely perfect song. Beautiful and... sad. It was crying out to be heard. It wanted to be heard.

Wait. It was _the _song.

He checked himself. He wasn't being affected by it like normal. He was still in complete control. He knew he had to go to the source but in his own time. His own decision. Must be a new Siren quality he'd acquired.

He checked his surroundings. He was still in the blue room, Rose was still lying on the table. He called to her. Just in case.

Nothing.

Getting to his feet, he gave her one last look before he went through the door, shutting all his thoughts of her and the pain behind in that room.

* * *

It took a couple of hours to get off the Siren ship due to its sheer mass. When he finally got out he found himself back in the temple ruins, the spaceship tucked neatly underground in a massive chamber.

He followed the song, up some steps, through some corridors and into the main temple. He eventually found himself in the entrance which he and Rose first found, the Sirens sitting at the end playing their music.

He should probably stop thinking about Rose, now.

"_Hello?" _he called out in his mind so they wouldn't start biting him again. He waited. They made no indication of having heard him. _"Hello!" _he tried again. They weren't reacting. _"HELLO!"_

Were they ignoring him? They must've known he was there. Maybe verbally he'd get a bit more of a reaction?

"Hi, hello, here I am," he said. Then a bit louder. Then he yelled it.

They were completely ignoring him. Fine.

He dug into his pocket, intending to find the sonic – but found something a whole lot better. He brought out Rose's iPod along with the sonic, buzzed the screen, turned the volume up to maximum and hit play.

"_WE ARE THE CHEEKY GIRLS! WE ARE THE CHEEKY GIRLS! YOU ARE THE CHEEKY BOYS! YOU ARE THE CHEEKY BOYS!"_

The Sirens suddenly stopped and turned their heads, staring at him incongruously. It had worked!

"_COME AND SMILE! DON'T BE SHY! TOUCH MY BUM! THIS IS LIFE!"_

"_Now I've got your attention," _the Doctor began in his mind, making to turn off the iPod. _"I'd like..."_

"_COME AND JOIN THE CHEEKY CLUB! THIS IS WHAT YOU WANT! COME AND SING THE CHEEKY SONG! OUR CHEEKY SONG, WOO!"_

"_Err, hold on..." _the Doctor directed his attentions to the iPod, fumbling frantically to try and turn off the Cheeky Girls.

"_COME AND SMILE! DON'T BE SHY! TOUCH MY BUM! THIS IS-"_

"_Ah, better," _the Doctor said and pocketed the iPod, turning back to the Sirens. _"Right, now I've got your attention, I'd like a few questions answered."_

"_It is not our fault," _one of them quickly said.

"_So you keep saying, but what does that mean? What isn't your fault?"_

None of them answered.

"_Okay, let's start from the beginning," _the Doctor said, taking a seat on one of the temple steps in front of the group of Sirens casually. _"How did you lot come to be on Kaila?"_

"_We crashed."_

"_Your ship wasn't damaged."_

"_It self-repaired," _the Siren explained.

The Doctor frowned. _"That must've taken a while."_

"_We have been here for so long."_

"_Why not leave?"_

"_We cannot leave without them."_

"_Without who?"_

"_Our soul-mates."_

"_Ooooh..." _the Doctor realised. _"Your men. So when you crashed your soul-mates got split up from you."_

One of the Sirens nodded. _"They are somewhere on this planet. We play our music so that they might find us."_

Everything was making sense. _"So the song is a mating call," _he realised._ "But why drag in all the men around here?"_

The Siren looked sad at this. _"It is not our fault. When we first started playing all the natives of this world came here to our song, it is a side-effect we had not anticipated. We do not know what to do. We make them as comfortable as we can and when they are sick we treat them, as we treated you. We will let them go when our soul-mates arrive, but until then it is safer for us to contain them. If we were to let them go they might be killed by the wildlife of this world. They're vulnerable during the time of our song."_

The food. It explained it. They hadn't needed to put the recognition filter on the food, it was an added comfort. Like the barrier being harmless.

"_What about the men you've released?" _the Doctor asked, remembering what the Elder had said to him weeks ago back in the camp. _"The ones with head trauma, memory loss and heart failure?"_

To his complete surprise, all of the Sirens started to cry. _"We try to help, we try to make them comfortable but some of them turn insane. We try to use our technology to make them better..."_

"_But it doesn't work in the same way it works on your species," _the Doctor finished. Like Sela's friends.

She nodded. _"We never meant to hurt them."_

"_It's not your fault, I know," _the Doctor said. _"Why not go looking for them? Your spaceship works."_

"_This world is so large," _the Siren replied, sobbing. _"And we are so weak, now. We do not have the strength."_

The Doctor stared at them. _"You're... dying?"_

"_We cannot exist without our soul-mates," _the Siren said quietly._ "We are each born with a soul-mate designated by the celestial bodies. We are the other half of each other, in all physical and mental sense. We balance each other's feelings and desires, health and happiness. If our soul-mate becomes ill we can take half of the illness and balance it between us. If we are not happy our soul-mate can give us a balance of happiness. Without our soul-mates we cannot balance these things and they become too heavy or light for us. We will die."_

"_I can help you," _the Doctor said quickly, getting to his feet. _"I promise I can help you find them. But you have to do something for me too."_

The Sirens looked ready to burst into tears again. _"There is nothing we can do for your soul-mate. She was bitten some time after you. We rushed her to the suppression chamber but the effects she had already sustained were irreversible. We are so sorry."_

The Doctor swallowed. There was really nothing. Nothing at all. Rose, as he knew her, was dead. And nothing was going to bring her back.

"_I will help you," _he said, swallowing back the tears he could feel oncoming. _"But you have to stop playing your song. You have to let the men go and then I will help you."_

The Siren stared at him with those sightless eyes. _"But our soul-mates will not hear us."_

"_I don't think they're hearing you at the moment. I think they doing exactly the same as you, playing their mating call just out of your radius waiting for you to come to them. If you keep doing this you will never find each other."_

The Siren blinked. _"What have you planned?"_

"_I have a ship, on the mainland. If you play your mating call into there I can project it all around the world on a frequency the natives can't hear. Your soul-mates will hear it, and they will come. But I need to get my ship first. So until then you have to stop playing so the people on this island won't be affected. Is that a promise?"_

The Sirens looked between each other for a moment. It was a minute before one of them stepped forward, and nodded.

"_It is a promise."_

* * *

**A/N: **Awww, they're good people after all :D


	26. Solve One Problem

**A/N: **Happy New Year!

* * *

Chapter 26 – Solve One Problem...

"She's brain dead," was all the Doctor said.

Jack didn't have a clue what to say.

When the Doctor had first appeared in the holding area Jack had been over the moon to see him alive. But very quickly it became apparent something was wrong. The half-Siren half-Time Lord had led out the men out of the temple ruins in complete silence on his part, before taking Jack's arm and leading him back inside. He'd taken him straight to a massive spaceship concealed in the underground cavern and through some metal corridors until they had reached a giant blue room.

Rose was there. Lying on the table. Brain dead.

Jack stuttered, tripping over the words until he was able to say something to reply to that sentence. "Isn't there something...?"

"No," the Doctor replied simply.

"But..."

"She's dead."

Jack turned to stare at the Doctor. "She can't be."

The Doctor continued to stare at Rose, his voice controlled and levelled. "Her heart and breathing are being maintained by this room. She has no response to external visual, auditory or tactile stimuli." His voice was slowly beginning to raise in pitch, becoming more and more cracked... "All reflexes, some of which vestibulo-ocular, corneal, gag and pain reflexes and responses are non-existent. Body temperature is normal and she is not in shock. There is complete electrocerebral silence..." He was gasping it through sobs now, his fists clenched... "She is brain dead. And she's not going to wake up."

Jack looked at him. This man – his best friend – had risked his life and more for this woman. In the past few weeks alone he'd swum her across an ocean for her, risked hypothermia for her, taken punishment from a bear for her, held back a regeneration for her, completely opened himself up to her, made love with her, conceived children with her, suppressed hypnosis for her, undergone a genetic overwrite for her... and all he had to show for it was his own blue skin, multiple physical injuries and a huge hole in his hearts.

There was nothing else Jack could say. "She can't be."

There was only silence before the Doctor spoke next, barely audible despite the fact Jack was stood a metre away.

"What the hell do I do?"

Jack wasn't even sure if the Doctor was looking for an answer to that question. He didn't think he could give one, anyway. This wasn't real. None of this was real.

The Doctor suddenly took a gasp of breath, closing his eyes. "What am I gonna tell her Mum?" he croaked, and just like that he lost all of his strength, collapsing to sit on the floor with his arms hugging himself, his head hung. He was sobbing.

Silently Jack moved forward, and hugged his friend. The fact the Doctor now had wings made that slightly problematic but it was the least important thing right now.

The Doctor cried. Jack had never seen him properly cry before. He let loose, as if years of built-up tears were being released through opened floodgates. And Jack held him through it. He didn't know what else to do. There was nothing to say.

Nothing at all.

In the silence, a new Siren song suddenly started playing. It wasn't the mating call. It was a song for him. It was the song of bereavement... The loss of a soul mate. In honour of his. In the song the Doctor got up, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. He walked over to Rose, placing one hand on her tummy where his two children were still growing and cupping her face with the other.

"You're beautiful," he whispered, and kissed her.

Then suddenly he pulled back, his eyes completely wide. Jack jumped to his feet immediately, staring at Rose... but she hadn't moved.

"What?" Jack asked

"They said..." the Doctor whispered, obviously having a massive conflict in his mind. "They said they..."

Then he was off, running out the door before Jack even had time to blink.

* * *

The Doctor ran without stopping, straight to the main hall where the Sirens were. He burst in, completely cutting their song of mourning short as he screamed in his mind...

"_What did you say about your soulmates?"_

The Sirens stared at him, obviously confused. _"They are the other half of us. They contain a piece of us..."_

"_And the balance?"_

"_We balance our emotions, health and desires..."_

"_How do you do that? How does it work?"_

The Sirens gestured vaguely in unison. _"A simple mental transfer."_

"_Thank you!" _the Doctor yelled in his mind, and then ran back out of the hall, almost colliding with Jack coming the other way. Jack stumbled and just about managed to keep his footing as the Doctor threw a passing apology over his shoulder.

"Doctor?" Jack yelled at the man disappearing like a bullet down the corridor back to the spaceship.

"Can't stop! C'mon!" the Doctor yelled in reply, and disappeared around the corner.

* * *

The Doctor got back to Rose in twelve seconds flat. He skidded to a halt next to her, swallowing and looking her up and down. This was it...

"Doctor?" Jack was yelling again, arriving back in the blue room feeling as though his lungs were about to burst. "What the hell?"

"I have an idea!" the Doctor was yelling again through pure adrenaline, staring at Rose still lying on the table. "It's stupid, I know it is, but it's all I've got!"

"What are you gonna do?" Jack panted, moving to stand next to the Doctor, still doubled-over and gasping for air.

"I'm a Siren! I have their mental capabilities, their control, their capacity to _balance _with their soul mates!" the Doctor yelled all in two seconds.

"But... Rose isn't a Siren..." Jack pointed out.

"I know, but the _bond _Jack! There's a bit of her in me, a bit of me in her! Maybe it's not _exactly_ like the Sirens but it's close! So close that I _have_ to try!" he shouted, slamming his fist on the table. "I _have_ to try and use their balance method to give her back the electrical stimulation in her brain in exchange for some of mine!"

"That's insane," Jack croaked. "It's not gonna work!"

"I know it's insane, Jack, and maybe it won't and I'll die or my brain will collapse or something but right now _I don't care. _Wish me luck."

"Doctor!" Jack shouted, throwing out a hand... but the Doctor had already put his fingers to Rose's temples and closed his eyes.

For a few moments nothing happened... and then there was a voice.

"Hello?" a woman asked.

Jack's jaw dropped. "Rose?"

"Jack?"

"Rose!"

"Doctor?"

The Doctor had done it. She was awake. She was speaking. She was moving. She was alive! The Doctor pulled away and flashed his set of pointy teeth at her in a grin, tears welling in his eyes...

"You're alive..." he whispered. "Rose... You're alive... It worked..."

"Doctor?" Rose asked, confused.

He bent down to kiss her on the lips, completely forgetting what he looked like. Smiling giddily he turned to Jack, swaying on his feet. "If you'll excuse me," he began, his words somewhat slurred. "I'm just gonna pass out for about ten minutes."

And just like that, he collapsed to the floor. Jack bounded forward instantly – the Doctor was completely out cold. Hearts were still beating. That was good. In seconds Jack was up again and he greeted Rose in a massive hug and a peck on the cheek.

"He's all right," Jack almost laughed the sentence, beaming from ear-to-ear. "Oh God... you're awake! He did it!"

"Jack..."

The voice was so urgent and so panicked he stopped dead in his verbal tracks, staring at her. "What? What's wrong?"

"Umm..." Rose began, somewhat uncomfortably. "The lights in here are _on, _right?"

Jack stared at her. "Rose..." he began, reaching up to her eyes and waving a hand in front of them. They didn't react whatsoever.

"I was kinda hoping the lights weren't on," Rose admitted. "But it's not that. I think I'm... Well... I think I'm..."

"Blind," Jack completed in a mutter. "Yeah."

* * *

**A/N: **This was short and crap so quick update promised.


	27. Fly On The Wings Of Love

**A/N: **As a wise person once said to me... "So fluffy you could walk on the clouds!"

* * *

Chapter 27 – Fly On The Wings Of Love

"I'm sorry, Rose, but I'm going to have to take your clothes off."

Rose laughed. "Don't apologise, that's the best thing you've said to me all day."

The Doctor laughed with her, staring down into her sightless eyes in the tent of the Kailan camp. After he'd woken up Jack had explained the situation and the Doctor had simply taken it into his stride, acting like it was the smallest problem that could occur. That reassured both Jack and Rose. The Doctor wasn't so sure. But being blind was much better than being brain dead.

They'd said their goodbyes to the Sirens with promises to fulfil their end of the bargain and left to go back to the Kailan camp, the Doctor and Jack helping guide Rose over the forest floor. When they'd made it back the Doctor had had to reintroduce himself through his altered genetic makeup and make a brief summary of what had happened. After that the Elder had greeted them happily in turn, thanking them for everything they'd done. Jack had obviously gone to join the celebratory party, but the Doctor had taken Rose back to his tent, lying her down on the bed. Now he was undressing her, preparing for what he was about to do.

"So why are you undressin' me?" Rose wondered.

He laughed again. "That blue room – it was a suppression chamber, preventing your DNA from being overwritten. It uses sonic energy, which is lucky for us, but it does mean I have to run the sonic screwdriver over every millimetre of you to stop the Siren's bite from taking over your DNA," he explained, pillowing her head to make sure she was comfortable. "Three times a day should be a safe amount."

"Sounds boring," Rose murmured.

"Oh, I'll keep you entertained," he replied happily, taking a seat next to her and digging into his pocket for the sonic. He raised it to her forehead and commenced the lengthy process. "I was told I'd make a great stand up comedian, once."

"I'm sure you were," Rose replied, not sounding fully convinced.

"Really!" the Doctor insisted. "Doctor, Doctor, I feel like a pair of curtains! Pull yourself together, man!"

"That's not funny."

"Really, how about this one... Doctor, Doctor, my daughter's just swallowed my pen, what do I do?"

"Use a pencil," Rose completed.

"Oh you're no fun," the Doctor complained. "How about another type of entertainment? I could sing."

"Please don't," Rose laughed.

"How about a bit of Jimi?" He launched into song, "can you see me, yeah! Begging you on my knees! Whooa yeah!" He began head bopping and he continued to run the sonic down her jaw. "Can you see me baby? Baby please don't leave! All right! If you can see me doing that you can..."

Rose was clearing her throat. "Umm, Doctor..."

He winced, stopping dead as he realised. "Oh sorry. Bad song choice. Okay, how about The Ordinary Boys? We're on an island... IN THE SEA! We're on an island, we never leave! We're on an island... IN THE SEA!"

"Doctor...!"

He winced again. "Okay. Freebird. I do a great verbal guitar... Ne ne-ne ne-ne now now ne na ne-ne now now now! Ne-ne nah-nah NEOW-NEOW-NEOW-NOW WAW WAW WAW WAW WAW WAW WAW WAW WAW WAW WAW WAW! C'mon Rose, I need a second person! !"

"Doctor!" Rose interrupted, laughing.

"Okay okay!" he said, keeping a straight face. "I'm, too sexy for my shirt, too sexy for my shirt, so sexy it hurts! And I'm... too sexy for Raxacoricofallapatorious..."

"Stop!" Rose gasped through laughter.

"Okay, I'm done," he said, laughing with her. "So singing's no good either?"

"No," Rose snorted.

"I'm running out of entertainment options," he complained. "Unless... you know..."

He leant down to her face, running his thumb over her cheek and pressing a kiss to her lips. Still running his sonic over her neck he reached down her body, tracing his fingers over her bare skin. Rose shuddered beneath his touch – and not in the good way. He quickly drew away.

"Don't, please," she suddenly whispered, all traces of laughter gone.

He nodded, kissing her forehead. She was blind. Every time he touched her she might think it was someone else. Especially now with how cold his skin was... and the fact his fingers were not exactly how they used to be. She was terrified. "I know. I won't. Sorry."

She reached up to try and find his face. He took her wrist and pressed her palm to his cheek, where she stroked his bottom lip with her thumb.

"I'm never gonna see you again, am I?" she suddenly asked, her voice low. "Our children will be born but I'll never see them."

He stopped sonicking her and gazed at her face for a moment, his hand still resting on her wrist. "Your blindness - it's another effect of the genetic overwrite. I _think_ I can fix it but you're going to have to be patient, because I can't do that till we get the TARDIS back."

"Okay," she said quietly. "You feel different."

"Yeah," he muttered, slightly uncomfortable. "Umm... you know you said you'd love me no matter what I looked like?"

"Yeah..."

"Well, I look a bit different."

"How?"

He swallowed. "Um... I had to undergo the genetic rewrite to sort everything out. I've taken on some Siren appearance characteristics..."

"Which ones?"

"Well, I'm a bit blue."

"That's okay."

"I have three fingers."

"That's okay."

"And I've got... wings."

There was a momentary pause as Rose took that small detail in.

"That's... okay," she finally said.

"I should be able to fix it in the TARDIS," he assured her quickly. "But I'm kind of stuck like this till we get her back."

"Okay," Rose said, dropping her hand from his cheek. "Have you still got your head hair?"

"Yep," he replied, resuming his sonic buzzing along her collar bone. "All there."

"Thank God," Rose breathed, grinning. He laughed. "Can you fly?" she suddenly asked.

He stopped dead. "Err... I haven't tried."

"Go on," she urged, still grinning. "And take me with you."

The Doctor stared at her. "But I might fall and we'll die."

"It'll be fun," Rose countered.

The Doctor considered this for a moment. "Fair enough. But let me practice, first."

"Okay," Rose replied, relaxing again as he resumed buzzing. "You done yet?"

"Not even a third of the way through yet," the Doctor admitted, slightly embarrassed. "Any song requests?"

Rose sighed, but it turned into a laugh halfway through.

* * *

Rose woke up in the by now familiar darkness, an arm draped over her chest and the sound of heavy breathing of a man from next to her. Suddenly scared, she fumbled with her fingers around until she found his face, and then moved her hand up to try and find his hair...

"Ow!" a voice complained. "Don't jab my eye."

"I'm sorry," Rose said, giggling as she realised it was the Doctor.

"It's me, promise," he said, a voice in the nothingness. His arm pulled her closer and she could feel his hot breath on the side of her neck. "Go back to sleep."

Rose settled down again, reaching up to the Doctor...

"Ow!" the Doctor complained.

"Sorry," Rose said again quickly.

"It's here." He took her wrist and sat her hand on his hair. "Good night."

She smiled and entwined her fingers in his hair, massaging his scalp. His head was as cold as the rest of him.

Suddenly she heard something new, something from above...

"Doctor!" she said quickly, pushing on his head.

"What?" he asked, rather irately.

"It's a plane! We've got to go!"

The Doctor made no move whatsoever to get up. "Jack's got it, go back to sleep," he murmured into her shoulder.

"What?" Rose asked, confused.

"Jack's bringing the TARDIS back. Go to sleep."

"But..."

"Rose," he muttered sleepily. "I love you, but please shut up and go to sleep."

The next thing he felt was a knee straight in his groin. He squealed slightly and curled in on himself, covering them in a reflexive action.

"How..." he began in a gasp. "How can you even _tell _where it is_?"_

"Lucky guess," Rose grated.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry, look, Jack's going to catch the plane back to find the TARDIS and bring it to us on an emergency programme, since I can't go looking like this and you... well, you know."

"Okay," Rose said, aiming a kiss for the region of his face and ended up on his lips. "That was all I wanted to know. Go to sleep."

"Right," the Doctor breathed.

* * *

Jack had gone in the morning, no doubt he'd got the plane to the mainland. All they could do was kill time until he got back, so the Doctor took Rose on a flight.

"Going up," he said with the woman in his arms, pumping his wings a few times to fly up. His wings were actually quite powerful and he moved fast as he ascended, the wind rushing past them both until he and Rose were high above the island.

"How high are we?" Rose asked when they came to a stop.

"About fifty feet."

"Don't drop me," Rose squealed, hanging tightly onto his neck.

He laughed. There was a pause before he spoke next, his voice soft. "This is beautiful."

"Describe it to me?"

"Lots of sea," he said. "The sky's completely blue. The sea's sparkling. Everything's perfect."

"I wish I could see it," Rose said quietly.

"When you're fixed I'll bring you back up, okay?" his voice said in the blackness. "Then you can see it."

She looked up to what she hoped was his face, giving a small smile. "Thank you."

He kissed her on the forehead, and then grunted slightly. They dropped about a foot and Rose squealed again, burying her head into his chest.

"Sorry," he apologised, laughing. "Getting tired."

"Go down then!" she squeaked in terror. He laughed again and slowly began to descend, back down to land in the Kailan camp where he touched down and stood Rose up on her feet. She hugged him tightly, and he held her in return.

"Rose?"

"Hmm?"

"Did I ever tell you you're beautiful?"

"Yeah."

He smiled. "Good."


	28. Very Pregnant

**A/N: **Yay for recent engagement news! Now c'mon DT, where's the baby?

* * *

Chapter 28 – Very Pregnant

"And don't come _back_ you stupid over-happy alien _bastard!"_

The Doctor only just about managed to dodge the flying pot that was aimed at his head as he stumbled backwards out of the tent Rose was in, currently screaming her head off at him. He almost backed into the Elder coming the other way, who caught him just in time.

"Sorry," the Doctor muttered, righting himself.

"How is your mate?" the Elder asked with a gentle smile.

The Doctor paused for a moment, gazing off into the distance. "Very... pregnant," he finally said, before blinking and looking back at the Elder. "I'm sorry, I didn't intend to stay this long."

The Elder bowed courteously. "Don't worry, it's an honour to have you here. Please, stay as long as you need."

The Doctor gave a weak smile. It had been three and a half months since Jack had left to get the TARDIS and they hadn't seen hide nor hair of him since. Rose was now fast approaching the second trimester of pregnancy and the fact she was carrying not _one_ alien baby but _two, _meant she wasn't in her happy place and hadn't been for a very long time. And of course, being the only one who spoke English in the immediate area the Doctor was the one on the receiving end of her frankly terrifying mood swings.

"Have you got any herbal remedies I could give her?" the Doctor asked.

The Elder nodded and pointed to a small tent just across the village. "That is our medical tent, please take whatever you need."

"Thank you," the Doctor replied, shaking the Elder's hand and quickly dashing over to the tent.

* * *

The Doctor returned to find the mother of his children sitting in the middle of the bed chewing on the sheet rocking slowly backwards and forwards. He grimaced and announced his presence with a small cough.

"I've got some herbal remedies," he said, moving over to her, setting the bowls down on the bed before nervously standing in front of her. "Are you still annoyed at me?"

She burst into tears. He quickly took a seat next to her and drew her into a comforting hug. "Talk to me."

"I'm so stupid!" she choked, sobbing into his chest. "You're being so sweet and nice and I'm just yellin' at you, and I don't want to yell at you. I'm sorry."

"I understand," he said gently. "It's what I'm here for. To be yelled at. I don't mind."

"I'm useless..." she sobbed. "I'm fat and moody and I can't do anythin' for myself, I need you to help me do everythin', I can't even bloody pee without you and you're hatin' it!"

"No, I'm not, trust me," the Doctor said quickly.

"All I do is pee and throw up and yell at you and sleep!" she wailed. Then she felt something warm dribble out of her nose and she already quite quickly knew what that was... "And now my brain is falling out!" she wailed, launching into a fresh set of tears.

The Doctor quite literally had to stop himself from burst out laughing. Suppressing the urge he quickly grabbed a rag from the side and dabbed at her nosebleed carefully. "Rose, listen to me. I love pee duty. In fact, pee duty is the highlight of my day. Well, the multiple _highlights_ of my day. I already told you, I'm your slave during this. You're the one carrying my children, I caused this, so I'm going to make sure that you're looked after throughout... I will dab your nosebleeds, catch your pee and mop up your sick because I love you."

She suddenly stopped crying and looked up at him with her blind eyes, wiping the tears away. "Really?" she asked.

"Really and truly," he replied.

"That's like... the sweetest thing you've ever said to me!" she said, and burst into tears again.

The Doctor sighed and gathered her into a hug again, kissing her forehead. "Now look, I've got some stuff that'll help so cram it down and then I can do the sonic on you."

She sobbed again. "I need to pee."

He took a breath. "Okay, just let me find the bucket..."

* * *

The Doctor woke up one bright and sunny morning two weeks later, his hand resting on Rose's swollen belly with her arm around his shoulders. He opened his eyes and found her head tilted towards him, fast asleep. Not wanting to disturb her he quietly got out and got dressed, leaving to have a wash in the bathing spot.

On the way back to Rose he picked up some more remedies, and was delighted to hear that Geron had returned home, completely healed. His mate, Velayna, thanked the Doctor heartily for everything he'd done, and as a result he was feeling quite positive as he went back to the tent.

"Rose," he began as he entered the tent. "I..."

He trailed off as he realised she was still asleep. Setting down the remedies he moved over to the bed, giving her a shake. She didn't wake up.

"Rose?" he tried again, suddenly scared. "Rose, wake up."

She wasn't waking up. He checked her pulse and heartbeat – they were fine. Almost with a sense of dread he reached up to touch her head, checking the brainwaves...

They were there. But only just.

"Oh no," he breathed, shaking her again. "Rose, wake up. Wake up!"

She didn't. Jack had taken too long. The sonic would no longer suppress the overwrite...

He took her in both arms and ran out of the hut, his hearts hammering in his chest. If she turned, not only would he have to give more of his electrical brain activity to her but the overwrite would be completely irreversible, and there was no telling the amount of genetic damage his children would suffer...

There was only one solution.

He took a breath, pumped his wings, and took off. He flew over the treetops towards the direction of the Siren's temple – if he could get her to the suppression chamber, it was her only chance...

He was beginning to tire, his wings, his back and his arms aching. But he couldn't give up. He had to get her back to the Siren ship.

He landed clumsily in front of the temple steps, every part of him aching. Kneeling with Rose in his arms, panting on the floor, he forced himself onto his feet and staggered up the temple steps.

The Sirens weren't sitting in the entrance like they had been before. He took the route down to where the spaceship had been, and was truly relieved to find it was still parked in the underground. He ran over the ramp, thanking all of creation it was open as he ran in and met instantly with a locked door. Readjusting the woman in his arms he pressed his hand to the scan and waited. It flashed red.

"_Hey!" _he yelled in his mind. _"It's me, I've got an emergency, open up!"_

The door suddenly sprung back, and he found himself face-to-face with a Siren. She looked at him, then at Rose, and then beckoned him. They ran down the ship's corridor and took a short cut the Doctor had never even seen before... and within ten seconds they were in the infirmary wing with the suppression chamber at the end.

They reached the room, the Siren holding open the door for him. He bolted to the table and laid Rose down carefully, resting his fingers on the side of her head... And breathed a sigh of relief. He'd just made it.

"_Thank you so much," _he said to the Siren, unable to control his smile. The Siren however, didn't look as happy as him.

"_You promised..." _She looked sad.

His face dropped. _"I'm still waiting for my ship. My friend went to get her four months ago and he's not back yet, I have no idea what's taking him so long."_

"_Chaynai is unbalanced," _the Siren informed him. _"She is weak, now. We need our soul-mates to survive."_

"_I know, I'm so sorry, but there's nothing I can do until I get back my ship... Is there anything I can do for her?"_

She shook her head. _"You are male, but you are not her soul-mate."_

He sighed. _"He'll be back soon."_

"_The others are calling to restart the song," _the Siren continued. _"I thought it best not, but they are strongly suspecting a deception on your part. We cannot survive much longer unbalanced as we are."_

"_Neither can my soul-mate," _he told her truthfully. _"Her life depends on my friend's return as much as Chaynai's. I am not deceiving you."_

"Hello?" suddenly asked a voice from the table. He spun around to see Rose looking blindly around the room, obviously very scared from the unfamiliar surface she was lying on. "Doctor? Are you there?"

"Rose," he said gently, moving forward and resting his hand on her belly. "You've become resistant to the low sonic energy of the screwdriver, I had to bring you back to the Siren's ship."

She breathed a sigh of relief, reaching up to try and find his hand. He took her's, squeezing it gently. "Good. Got a bit scared, there."

He grinned. "Yeah, me too," he said and kissed her on the forehead. "You're okay here in spurts for a while. We've just got to hope Jack'll be back soon."

And, just like magic, as soon as he had said the words there was the distant sound of ancient engines churning into life... the TARDIS! It slowly increased in volume and it took some time until the Doctor realised it was materialising on the other side of the suppression chamber. He got to his feet and moved to stand in front of it, folding his arms, waiting for the door to open...

It swung open and Jack burst dramatically out, arms in the air, a grin in his face. "Delivering one TARDIS! Please sign here."

He noticed the Doctor standing in front of him, his arms folded, foot tapping. He didn't look very happy. Jack's smile froze on his face. "What happened?"

In reply the Doctor simply stepped forward, drew back his arm and punched Jack in the face. Jack yelped and stumbled back into the TARDIS door, holding his nose.

"What the hell was that for?" he wanted to know.

"Four _months, _Jack! _Four months!" _the Doctor screamed at him. "Where _were _you?"

"It was the TARDIS!" Jack protested. "She's been on full power since we got here and so..."

"Oh never mind," the Doctor interrupted, waving his hand uncaringly. "Tell me later. Get Rose in the TARDIS, and..." He turned to the Siren still standing in the doorway, looking completely bemused. _"Gather your people, bring them here. You will find your soul-mates today."_

* * *

**A/N: **There's only one chapter left :o


	29. A Happy NonMoody

Chapter 29 – A Happy Non-Moody

The Doctor charged into the TARDIS, moving instantly up to the console and beaming.

"Hey old girl," he said gently, resting his hand on the console. "I know I feel a bit different, but it's me, promise."

She made a high-pitched wibble in response, sending a warm vibe to his hand. But something didn't feel right... something was... The Doctor's eyes widened, staring at the monitor in complete horror.

"Oh, what has the nasty time agent done to you?" he asked, rubbing the de-materialisation column as the man himself entered the doorway, guiding Rose to the chair. He looked up as the Doctor fished out the stethoscope from a bag hanging on the console, listening to the column.

"I didn't trash her," Jack assured the Doctor.

"She's bloated!" the Doctor determined, pulling back to stare at Jack. "What did you _do _to her?"

"I had to refuel her!" Jack protested.

"You've overfed her!"

"She only had enough for one trip so I had to go through every single one of your emergency programmes until I found the right one to go to the rift!"

"11832, the Doctor said instantly.

"And _I_ started at 1!"

The Doctor rolled his eyes went back to stroking the TARDIS. She was squeaking, giving him mental nudges, obviously dying to know something.

"Oh!" he realised. "Yeah, Rose is pregnant. Twins. They're mine."

The TARDIS made that high-pitched wibble again, before a low burbling sound. The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "What d'you mean 'it's about time'?"

She wibbled again. The Doctor rolled his eyes and grinned. "Yeah, well don't start building your nursery yet, we've still got a few months to go."

She began to make a stream of high-pitched wails. The Doctor laughed. "Okay don't yell, of course she'll deliver in here."

She wibbled again, and then the usual background noise of the TARDIS slightly raised in pitch.

"What was that?" Rose asked.

"She's in a good mood," the Doctor replied, taking a seat next to her. "And she'll look after you until the twins are born. She's excited."

"Good," Rose replied, reaching up for a hug to which he obliged. "Tell her thanks."

"She heard you," the Doctor replied, smiling.

There was a sudden knock on the door. All three looked up to see a crowd of Sirens in the doorway, looking around the TARDIS interior with complete astonishment.

"_Come in!" _The Doctor got to his feet, moving over to the console. _"This should be quick," _he informed them, tapping a few controls on the TARDIS. "Jack, I'll put you in a temporary sound pocket to counter the effects of the song. Right..." He flicked a final switch and turned to the Sirens once more. _"When you're ready."_

They nodded in unison and after a small pause, they began to play.

It echoed around the TARDIS, almost seemingly coming out from the walls of the ship itself. Rose felt the Doctor's hand take her's and he pulled her up to stand beside the console with him, stealing a quick kiss in the midst of the mating call.

It had only been about twenty seconds when the monitor started to beep and the Doctor jumped to attention, waving for the Sirens to carry on as he checked the readouts.

"It's a new input," he said, tapping a few more buttons. "It's..."

The sound of another song filled the TARDIS, and it very quickly became obvious that it was the male's mating call. It harmonised perfectly with the female's call, but it was a much lower tone... to create the most amazing song the Doctor had ever heard.

But Rose was frowning, letting go of the Doctor and turning towards the TARDIS doors, seemingly in a trance...

"The song... it's beautiful..." she said, and the Doctor laughed, quickly grabbing her waist and preventing her from moving.

"Guess it works both ways," he said, holding her tightly. "Hold on, Rose, you'll be fine in a minute." He turned back to the monitor, speaking to the Sirens in his mind whilst he firmly kept Rose pressed to him with one arm and the aid of a wing. _"I'm triangulating the source of their call... Got a lock on. Tracking them. They're coming. And fast. Keep playing."_

Another thirty seconds passed before the Doctor's face spread into a huge smile. _"They're here! Go and meet them!"_

The female Sirens were out the door in an instant and both calls abruptly stopped. The Doctor quickly let Jack out of the sound pocket and they got to the door just in time to see the Sirens and their soul-mates reunited, sharing quite intimate moments of love and affection in the glowing blue of the suppression chamber. They were quite obviously instantly balancing – multicoloured glows surrounding the couples and remaining until the glow balanced out and became white.

The Doctor regarded the scene, smiling. "Finally, something goes right. Let's go."

The three turned, leaving the Sirens to reacquaint in peace.

* * *

"Okay," the Doctor began, securing Rose in one of the large machines in the TARDIS Infirmary. "I could only 'balance' your brainwaves because your braindeath was an effect of the genetic overwrite, not an actual part of it. I couldn't do the same for your blindness because that's a direct effect of the overwrite. So, I could only balance any secondary sicknesses, because your DNA is your DNA and therefore it thinks you're supposed to be like that... with me so far?"

Rose paused for a moment, frowning, and then eventually nodded.

"Good," he said, grinning. "Now, this machine works in the complete reverse. It will fix your DNA back to how it was but it won't heal any sickness or injuries. You know when you first started travelling with me I got you to do that genetic imprint into the TARDIS database?"

Rose nodded again. That had been the most boring three hours of staying still in her life.

"Well this is the reason I did it," he said, pulling back and pressing at the keypad. "The TARDIS has a sort of 'default' recognition of your genes, so in a situation like this I can put you back to how you were two years ago."

"What about the babies?" she asked quickly.

"They're a foreign object in your body according to the imprint, so it'll leave them alone. Which means any genetic damage they've taken will stay, and it's completely irreversible. So if they're born with blue skin and wings then I won't assume you've cheated on me."

Rose laughed. "How long is this gonna take?"

He shrugged. "Anything up to three days, so I'll put you to sleep and wake you up when you're done. Then you'll get to see what I look like."

She grinned, tongue between teeth. "Can't wait for that."

He smiled and leant down to press a kiss to her lips. "See me in a minute."

* * *

Rose woke up, and felt incredibly refreshed.

She opened her eyes, and it took a few moments for her to realise that she was in the TARDIS Infirmary. And she could tell that because she was lying in one of the beds. And she could tell _that _because she could see!

"Doctor?" she yelled instantly, looking down to her belly. It was _huge; _considering the last time she'd seen it, it had been completely flat.

There was a rush of two pairs of footsteps and Jack burst into the room, elated to find her awake. She craned her neck to see the Doctor, but he seemed to have stopped outside the door.

"Doctor?" she asked again.

"I look different," his voice warned. "You ready?"

"Come on, you've been building the suspense for bloody ages!"

"Okay, coming in," he said, and then stepped through the doorway.

Rose stared at him for a moment, staring at his blue skin, three fingers, shining brown eyes and most noticeably, the wings. He seemed to tense for a moment, waiting for a reaction.

"Wow, it's kinda sexy," Rose said, and he burst into a smile. It was then she noticed his sharp, pointed teeth, and she blinked in shock. "Did you always have those?"

He nodded. "Well, don't get used to it, it's my turn now," he said, moving to sit next to her on the bed. "How are you feeling?"

"Great," she answered, reaching up to kiss him. "I'm huge."

He looked down at her belly. "Still got a few months left yet," he said, rubbing his hand over the bump. "And I won't be able to hide this from Jackie..."

She snorted with laughter. "Are we going back after you're fixed?"

He shook his head. "Quick detour to a hospital. Like I said, that machine doesn't heal. I can't exactly operate on myself and I'm hanging together with bits of string and Sellotape."

"What hospital?" Jack asked, moving to stand the other side of Rose.

"A universal one," the Doctor replied. "They'll probably look twice at me too, but it's much safer than visiting one on Earth. And I think we all need a haircut."

Jack nodded his agreement, but Rose frowned. The Doctor seemed to read her thoughts, reaching to the side table and handing her a mirror...

"Oh my god!"

"Yep," the Doctor replied simply.

"That's so unattractive," she muttered, staring at her own reflection. "You never said anythin'!" she suddenly yelled, looking at the Doctor. He shifted uncomfortably.

"I didn't think you'd want to hear it, seeing how you've been so moody." As he caught Jack's horrified expression he suddenly realised what he'd just said, and his eyes widened to dinner plates... "Err, I mean, a little moody. Barely moody. A teeny... tiny... little bit moody... But it's a nice-moody. A happy... non... moody... You've not been moody at _all!_ … Please don't hit me."

Rose sighed and rolled her eyes. "I need to sort this out. Are you goin' in?"

He nodded, getting to his feet and helping her to stand. "Jack, get lost, I'm about to strip."

"Fun killer," Jack muttered, and left the room.

"Can you help me?" the Doctor asked Rose, gesturing vaguely to his wings.

She giggled and nodded, unbuttoning his shirt to reveal the complete lack of chest hair. "Will your hair come back too?" she wondered.

"It'll grow back," he assured her.

"Good," she replied, pulling the shirt off of him. "You know..." she began, trying to sound as innocent as she could. "We haven't had sex in four months."

"I know..." he said flatly.

"Or even made out."

"I know..."

"Can we um..." she paused, staring up at him. "Extend our detour?"

"I'll have to check our schedule," he joked, and she went onto tiptoes to kiss him again.

She was about to reach down to his shorts to take them off when she stopped, and looked up at him. "Oh, and you promised one more thing."

"Hmm?"

"You said you'd take me on a flight when I could see again."

"Oh, yes..." he said grinning down at her. "C'mon, then."

He grabbed her hand, led her out of the infirmary and took her on a journey into the skies that she would truly never forget.

**The End**

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* * *

A/N: **What a random story! That was just one random idea bouncing to another random idea. Well, nothign new there I guess. :D**  
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